Weighted Toys (Anxiety Strategies)

Weighted toys, such as weighted soft toys or lap pads, can help ease anxiety through something called deep pressure stimulation. This is the same principle behind weighted blankets. Deep pressure is also associated with the release of serotonin and dopamine, chemicals that support mood and wellbeing. Serotonin is a precursor to melatonin, which helps explain why weighted items can also improve sleep.

When gentle, evenly distributed pressure is placed on the body, it stimulates pressure receptors in the skin. These receptors send signals to the brain that activate the parasympathetic nervous system, our “rest and digest” system. This can slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure, reduce cortisol (the stress hormone), and create a sense of calm and safety. In simple terms, the body receives the message that it is safe.

For children and adults who experience sensory processing differences or heightened anxiety, steady, predictable pressure provides important proprioceptive input, or body awareness. This grounding sensation can reduce fight or flight responses and help the nervous system settle. For this reason, weighted toys are often used in autism support, ADHD regulation, trauma-informed settings, and for generalised anxiety.

There is also a psychological component. Holding something weighted can feel containing and secure, similar to a firm hug. Physical containment often supports emotional containment. Research on weighted blankets and deep pressure therapy shows reduced physiological arousal, improved sleep, and reported reductions in anxiety. The evidence is strongest for sensory regulation, with growing support for anxiety management.

Weighted toys work especially well for children because they are portable, non-clinical, and comforting. They combine sensory regulation with emotional reassurance, which can be a powerful support for an anxious nervous system.

From a personal perspective, my son uses the medium sized Hug-A-Lumps which weigh 1.5kg, the smaller version pictured above weigh .75kg. He finds these weighted toys extremely comforting and uses them all day to help with his regulation as he has high levels of anxiety. I also use the smaller version of Hug-A-Lumps n in my classroom practice with year 3 and 4 students, these are very popular and widely used by the students, especially those who are neurotypical. They promote better focus and regulation throughout the day, while looking cute and not at all out of place within a primary classroom environment.

Anxiety Strategies – Box Breathing

Box breathing is a simple breathing technique that helps calm the nervous system and reduce anxiety. By slowly inhaling, holding, exhaling, and holding again for equal counts, it activates the body’s relaxation response and helps shift us out of “fight or flight” mode.

This steady rhythm can lower heart rate, reduce muscle tension, and create a sense of control during overwhelming moments. For people experiencing anxiety, box breathing provides a practical tool to slow racing thoughts, improve focus, and bring the body and mind back to a more balanced, grounded state.

Here are the simple steps for box breathing:

Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of 4.
Hold your breath for a count of 4.
Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 4.
Hold again (with lungs empty) for a count of 4.

Repeat this cycle for 4–6 rounds, or longer if needed. Keep the breath slow, steady, and gentle rather than forced. If helpful, imagine tracing the four sides of a square as you breathe.

There are many videos on YouTube that you can follow to get the right rhythm. Some can guide you verbally like in my first example and others, like in my second example, you will just hear the breath sounds to guide you. Experiment until you find the right guide for you.

Carer Burnout – February Musings

It is probably an opportune time to talk about the very real ongoing pressures that carers and families face every day.

There is a relentlessness of daily routines, therapies, school refusals, health practitioner refusals and ongoing meltdowns. Let’s face it, not many in the everyday community have any idea what a day looks like for many who care for anyone with complex needs. They might have empathy on the surface but that is where it ends. Often, we are also barraged by completing forms, forms for Centrelink, forms for NDIS and other government departments especially when your child is becoming a young adult – without the ability to make these decisions for themselves.

Then the ongoing s***show that is NDIS, whereby the community and media is constantly disparaging it for overspending, and then the resulting unjustified cuts to participants budgets leading many to bow out of the system altogether that was principally designed to help people with disability lead a more dignified and safer life. Somehow putting extreme pressure on parents to provide yet more reports from therapists or even worse, get a re-diagnosis because what was gold standard 5-10 years ago has been replaced and it no longer fits their tick box system.

Pressures on carers are at an all-time high and many have little to no supports outside of this system of NDIS providers as all previous groups and supports disappeared when NDIS took over.

For me personally, I have reached out to Carers SA which is based in Adelaide however I know that the Carer Gateway https://www.carergateway.gov.au/ can link you with services in your own cities https://www.carergateway.gov.au/about-us/local-service-provider. I now belong to a peer group, which is designed to support carers in a small group setting, a social group which is an outing with other carers, an opportunity to get out and about and there is also 1-1 counselling. The counselling only encompasses 6 sessions, but it might be a circuit breaker for some who need 1-1 support outside of a group setting. These services are free of charge which makes it a little different to the Medicare supported psychology sessions which can have a significant gap which many can’t afford. Carer supported groups and counselling can make the isolation and stress a little easier to bear, as you are surrounded by people who ‘get it’ and are non-judging of your circumstances.

Please reach out to the Carer Gateway if you think you could benefit, I know it helped me and it might help you too.