For ages 5-12 (and up).

‘Hey Warrior’ can be shipped worldwide.Available in softcover and hardcover.

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‘Hey Awesome’ can be shipped worldwide.

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All feelings are important – the magical, the messy, and the in-between. Sometimes though, big feelings can have us behaving in ways that aren’t so, let’s say … shiny. This happens to all of us. The more young people understand how and why, the more they can build the capacity to feel their feelings and manage them in positive ways.

‘Ups and Downs’ draws on Polyvagal Theory, a widely accepted neuroscientific theory, to support young people to understand why they feel and do as they do, and how to do differently when they need to. Driving brains and bodies isn’t easy! It takes time, experience, and the right information – so let’s give them that.

Who is ‘Ups and Downs’ for?

• Kids 5-12.
• Teens 13 and up.
• Parents.
• Teachers.
• Counsellors, psychologists, therapists.
• Any adult with a young person in their life.
• Anyone who loves picture books.
• Anyone who thinks they’re too old for picture books.
• Anyone who gets anxious, angry, sad, happy and who wants to understand (and better manage) feelings and behaviour.
• Anyone with a head.
• Everyone else.

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A book about boundaries, peer pressure and self-acceptance – and a reminder for all kids that the very best thing about them, is them.

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Your plushie amygdala can also be:

• 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.
• A bravery buddy. Anxiety happens when your amygdala (that fierce warrior) gets a little overprotective and a little too active. Your amygdala wants you to be brave, and it knows you can be, but sometimes you’ll need to believe it enough for both of you. What are the words your amygdala needs to hear? Perhaps, ‘We can do this,’ or ‘Whatever happens, we’ll be okay,’ or ‘We can do hard things.’ Find the words with your plushie, then use those words for yourself when you need to feel brave.
• 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.

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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?‘

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Separation anxiety can come with loads of heartache for children and their important adults, but there’s something else it comes with – the opportunity to strengthen all children against anxiety and build their brave – and we know they can be brave.

Saying ‘goodbye’ can be tough! Not only for our children, but for us too – even the strongest and bravest of parenting hearts can feel the wrenching that can come at separation. Separation anxiety exists for a good reason. We want to make children feel loved and supported, and we also want to build brave to make sure that anxiety doesn’t stand in the way of them doing the important, growthful things they need to do.

As their important adult, you have an enormous capacity to support them through separation anxiety and strengthen vital qualities and skills that will strengthen them now and for the long term. Let’s talk about how. In this 1.5 hour webinar, we will explore practical, powerful ways to build bravery when separation feels tough. 

A recording of the webinar will be available to all registered participants for 30 days following the ‘live’ online event.

We will explore:

• why separation anxiety happens, and the important job it’s there to do;
• the thing all loving adults will do (we’ll all do them!) that can inadvertently make their anxiety worse, and what to do instead;
• why their anxiety will fuel yours;
• what adults can do to soften the impact of separation;
• how to respond in the midst of anxiety – strategies for children, parents and carers (including teachers and other important adults);
• practical ways to support your child through separation anxiety;
• specific strategies for bedtime anxiety;
• the toolbox for young people – how to help all children feel bigger at separation;
• the connection between anxiety and aggression, and how to respond to big behaviour in the moment;
• the connection between anxiety, behaviour and learning, and how to work with this;
• a road map for supporting your child through anxiety – before, during, and after;
• why relationships matter, and how to facilitate relationships between children and their important adults (teachers, other important adults) in ways that will build brave behaviour.

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Choose from the paperback set or the hardback set in the ‘Version’ dropdown menu below.

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