When winning a £100K award coincides with having your first baby

Michael Crinnion is living every entrepreneur's dream – twice over.

At 44, he's just won the Mayor’s Big Ideas Challenge, £120,000 to scale his healthcare innovation across West Yorkshire, secured partnerships with prestigious NHS institutions, and is revolutionising how patients cope with cancer treatment.  

As if that wasn't enough, in the same week, he also welcomed his daughter as a first-time dad.  

Michael, founder of Mind Body Goals, which creates Luma³ devices that guide patients through breathing exercises during stressful medical procedures, says:

"I went to the mayor's prize award ceremony, and I was trying so hard to be present.

"This is a pivotal moment for me in the business. But I just couldn't keep myself from thinking about the fact that it was only the first time I'd been away from them both."

'Them both' refers to his wife Annie, a primary school teacher, and his new baby girl, who arrived precisely when Michael's business hit its breakthrough moment. He insists:

"I wouldn't change anything. There's never a good time to have a baby, but it is lovely. It's perfect." 

From mental health crisis to healthcare innovation 

Michael's journey to this chaotic convergence began in his third year at university, when a mental health crisis during a lonely work placement opened his eyes to something the education system had never taught him: that emotions aren't magical occurrences, but biological processes we can influence. 

He reflects:

"I think we grow up with this belief that our emotions are just something that happens to us. They're not. It's really powerful knowledge to start to understand how your brain works." 

That revelation led him to teaching, where he spent 11 years as a pastoral leader and vice principal for personal development, before inventing Luma³. His mission: democratise breathwork techniques typically "reserved for the wealthy or well-educated" by integrating them into NHS patient pathways. 

The Mayor's Big Idea 

West Yorkshire Metro Mayor Tracy Brabin's Big Ideas Challenge was the perfect testing ground for Luma³.  

The region's densely populated cities, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield, contain what Brabin calls a "sandbox" for healthcare innovation: a microcosm of UK demographics with stark health inequalities. 

From 19 finalists, each awarded £20,000 to pilot their ideas, Michael emerged as one of three winners, earning an additional £100,000 based on demonstrated impact on health inequalities.  

Michael puts his success partly down to partnering with Paxman, a West Yorkshire cancer care company that manufactures scalp cooling equipment for chemotherapy patients. 

Luma editions: Bespoke breathwork for every clinic 

What sets Luma³ apart isn't just the technology, elegant cubes that pulse with light to guide breathing pattern, but Michael's educator's instinct that "good ideas don't fail because they're bad ideas, but because nobody uses them." 

He developed "Luma Editions": a consultative approach where Michael works directly with clinical teams to understand their specific patient journeys. Does anxiety peak in the waiting room? During the procedure? While awaiting test results? Each clinic receives customised devices and training. 

The results from trials across chemotherapy, burns clinics, radiology, and speech therapy have been "phenomenal." One patient, Anna, a former police chief officer in Wakefield who initially thought breathwork was "bullshit", avoided having two chemotherapy treatments cancelled due to high blood pressure by using the device. 

"That's what would convince me if I were a sceptic," says Michael. 

The beautiful chaos of new parenthood 

Working from his attic now, Michael admits to being "very tired" but wouldn't have it any other way. He's discovered that running a business while caring for a newborn requires the same flexibility and problem-solving he brings to his work. 

He laughs:

"There's a lot going on. But I've got the option to start a bit later, finish a bit later, I’m doing a kind of staggered return, and that's my choice. It's been good. It's been really good." 

The guilt of balancing work and family is real, though. He admits:

"When I go to the office, I feel guilty. So now I'm in the attic, and I can hear her."

But there's joy in that proximity, too, the ability to be present in ways classically employed fathers often can't. 

The timing of their baby’s arrival alongside his biggest business opportunity has actually reinforced why his work matters.

He notes:

"Anytime you're relaxed about the baby, you're probably with the baby and therefore not getting anything else done. But it's made me think differently about how we support people through stressful times, because I'm living it." 

What's next: Research and revolution 

The £100,000 will fund expansion across West Yorkshire's NHS trusts, with particular focus on high-volume pathways like radiology and endoscopy. When patients can't remain calm during an MRI scan, the procedure fails, costing time, money, and potentially delaying diagnosis. 

Crucially, Michael has secured an MOU with Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust to run a pilot research project, building evidence for a full National Institute for Health Research grant application. He says:

"There are two things to win here. There's the clinical argument, and then there's the hearts and minds of the public." 

His vision extends beyond immediate patient outcomes to cultural transformation —normalising breathwork the way we've normalised physiotherapy. He argues:

"We depend too much on doctors to magically wave a wand. People will benefit from reframing their own mental health as something they can work on, the same way you work on physical fitness." 

For now, the revolution continues, one breathing exercise and one baby cuddle at a time.  

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