The Breathing Game: How Calm Changed Everything

We spent a fab day with the family at the Glasgow Science Centre. We played a cool game where you move a ball with your mind while strapped to a head monitor. The goal was to stay calm. The calmer you were, the more you moved the ball.

Everyone else tried this and their monitors all looked much like Player 1 in this picture. When I played, I moved the ball effortlessly to the end—I just sat calmly and did my calm breathing. I was delighted to see my calm brain waves appear as Player 2.

Seeing the difference all my breathing has made to my brain made my day.

My daughter was so convinced that she would smash me at this. She’s very resistant to my work and doesn’t rate the power of breathing. I thought she probably would beat me hands down, as I was sceptical that the game really did work on brain activity and wasn’t just a gimmick. But the more I breathed, the more my ball moved. As this happened, my daughter became more stressed that she wasn’t winning as she had predicted—ironically giving my calm brain even more power.

I was reminded of my own resistance to breathing. All the years of believing it was mumbo jumbo. I come from a family that holds this core belief. But when I came across Byran Post’s work and heard him explain what’s actually happening in the brain when we do this, I was keen to give it a go.

Understanding that we release the love hormone oxytocin, which counteracts the stress hormone cortisol. That we reduce the activity in our fear centre, the amygdala, and activate our prefrontal cortex—our thinking brain. That this helps stop our overthinking and brings us back into the present moment, where we can reconnect and feel safe. What’s not to love about that?

So I started breathing on the way to school pick-up. I started breathing during my child’s meltdowns. I started noticing small changes. My child’s meltdowns began to get shorter. As they calmed, they moved closer. I kept breathing. As they cuddled in, I still kept breathing. Their breathing fell in line with mine. We breathed together as their brain returned to calm and they were able to talk about what had happened.

But the biggest shift was after an upsetting phone call that had sent me into a spiral of fear and overthinking. I felt powerless and overwhelmed. I didn’t know what to do. So I started breathing. I felt dizzy as my nervous system started to calm. I was uncomfortably aware of the change as it was happening. What was this? I kept breathing.

It wasn’t long before the fearful overthinking was replaced by acceptance and clearer thinking. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. I wasn’t powerless. I hadnt jump into fixing things—which often only made them worse. With a calm, thinking brain, I was able to resolve the situation. This breathing thing really did work.

I imagined this must be what it felt like when they discovered the world was round. My mind was blown.

Even though I’ve been doing this for years now, and talk about it to many, it shocked me to see it so clearly on that monitor. Sometimes we still need to see the evidence.

Breathing isn’t just something we do to stay alive. When we use it intentionally, it becomes a powerful tool. It helps us reconnect with ourselves, with our children, and with the moment. It calms the chaos and clears the fog. That day at the Science Centre, I didn’t just win a game—I saw proof of what I’d been feeling for years. And I’ll keep breathing, no matter who’s watching.