Small Hey Warrior
Measuring 22cm high, the small amygdala plushie is the perfect travel-sized warrior for sleepovers, the school bag, the sports bag, the car, the couch, on your pillow – the truth is it will want to be anywhere you are.
The plushie amygdala (which features in Ups and Downs, Hey Warrior, Hey Awesome, and Dear You Love From Your Brain) is the perfect partner resource to use with any of the books. Why? Because they won’t eat your reading snacks. Unless your reading snacks are blueberries – then they might. You wouldn’t think stealing blueberries would be an issue for something that didn’t have actual teeth and tummies, but they don’t know this, you see, so they steal with them wondrous extravagance and make a mess when they smoosh them into their mouths – as you can tell by the colour of their fur.
Plushie amygdala – making neuroscience fun and feelings make sense since … like, for a while.
Here are some ways to use your plushie to feel braver, stronger, and less anxious:
- A breathing buddy. Lie down, put your plushie on your belly and take strong, steady breaths. If your plushie moves up and down as your breathe, your breathing is perfect – strong, steady, and from your belly – exactly the type that will calm anxiety.
- A sleeping buddy. Put your plushie close to you as you are falling asleep. As you feel it against you, pay attention to your breathing – let it be slow and relaxed. Then, imagine that your plushie is trying to fall asleep – try to be as still and as gentle as you can so as not to wake it up. This is a way to practise mindfulness and strengthen an anxious brain.
- Shift their focus from their anxiety to their courage. What we focus on is what becomes powerful. When we ask, ‘What might your amygdala need to feel okay again?‘ Or, ‘What words might help your amygdala feel brave right now?‘, we shift their focus from their anxiety to their own capacity to lead their amygdala (and themselves) into brave behaviour.
- A listening buddy. Talk to your plushie about your worries, (they can handle anything), or when you’re sad, mad, jealous, when you’ve messed up, done something fabulous, and when you’re feeling like an absolute legend. Talking helps to bring calm to an anxious brain by strengthening the connection between the emotion-loving right, and the language-and-logic-loving left.
- To take away the ‘anxiety about the anxiety”. When we introduce the amygdala in a playful, friendly way, we make way for them to approach the brave, meaningful, hard, new things that often fuel anxiety or other big feelings. Rather than feeling like they need to avoid anxiety (and the things that trigger anxiety – brave things, new things, hard things), they can imagine sitting cross-legged on the floor with their amygdala, staring it in the eye and saying, ‘Hey, I know this feels big. Come on, we can do this,’ as they imagine taking it by the hand and moving bravely forward.
- To make it safer to talk about big feelings, and to identify (and buy in to) calming strategies. We tend to find it easier to talk about the things that upset other people or things (as in ‘your amygdala’), or what other people or things might need, than it is to talk about ourselves. We can use the amygdala to draw on a powerful therapeutic technique called projection as a way to understand more about their triggers and the things that can bring them back to brave or calm. Try, ‘What upsets your amygdala?‘ Or, ‘What might your amgydala need to feel okay again?‘
USD $11.69
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USD $13.64 + This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageHey Awesome
If kids with anxiety could see themselves the way we see them, they would feel so much bigger than
Jackie (verified owner) –
I’m a huge fan of the song “My Amygdala” by AgustD so I was intrigued by this plushie (unrelated to the song). I ordered this plushie “amygdala” with the book, “Hey Warrior” by Karen Young. As one of many people who have experienced trauma and strives to address its effects, I found the book and plushie both heartwarming and practical.
Courtney –
Very cute and very sweet warrior to help in deep moments of stress and anxiety!
Dawn –
I am a Behavior Consultant for an Elementary school in the USA, my students absolutely love Hey Warrior! I think I love Hey Warrior more than my students do! I am very protective of him and I make sure they have clean hands when they visit with him! 🙂
Autumn A –
My daughter loves this little guy!
Belinda (verified owner) –
This is a cute, clever cuddly toy. My daughter loves cuddling it, it’s helped her alot.
Jo (verified owner) –
A gorgeous representation of the amygdala! All the kids I work with love it.
Tina (verified owner) –
I work with primary school age children, and I found that they love the amygdala plushie. It really helps them to externalize their feelings and to effectively role play how they might speak to their amygdala to calm down their anxiety. It adds a whole new dimension to reading the book with them. It’s also soft and cuddly, and a good size to cuddle and carry with them. I’m going to buy some more!
Jess O (verified owner) –
Our 3.5 year old daughter and 7.5 year old son love their plush amygdala friends! We got the pack with Hey Aewsome, Hey Warrior and the plushie and ordered an extra plushie so they have one each.
Our daughter named hers ‘Mr. Warrior’ after we had read the books together a few times. She started 3 year old kindergarten this year and takes Mr.Warrior with her each time to cuddle whenever she’s feeling nervous 🥰
Ann W –
My 11 year old grandson has had this book and small plushie for 4 years. It has really helped him understand and be more in control of his high anxiety. “Amygdala” is in his bed, travels with him, & is his go-to when life feels over whelming. He was very anxious about starting school this year, so he tucked Amygdala into his backpack. Since he knew it was nearby, he was able to make it through with only butterflies in his belly instead of wanting to vomit. Success!!!! I am buying him a key chain plushie that he can keep in his pocket or attach to his backpack.
Kelly Mc (verified owner) –
My son LOVES his mini warrior. He’s helped him SO much with his anxiety!
Jess (verified owner) –
No only was I super excited to receive my little friend, but my clients are enjoying having him in the office. He has been lovingly named “Miggy” and get hugged almost daily while reading Hey Warrior ❤️
Tina E (verified owner) –
My daughter will be thrilled to receive this lovely soft toy, she already has the keyring which helps her with her anxiety at school and the Large Heart one she sleeps with at night, this small hey warrior is for her Birthday just in case she loses her keyring so I know she will be delighted to have a full set to help her through her anxiety
Toni H (verified owner) –
I love these soft figures. I use them in my therapy practice for children – we read the Hey Warrior book together then the child gets their own warrior. It’s a lovely way to explore and explain anxiety.
Luisa (verified owner) –
My son was thrilled to receive this soft toy. He uses it for comfort at night and when he is feeling anxious. We refer to it when reading both books. ‘Kyle’ is a welcomed addition to our home!