What are worry dolls?

According to Mayan legend, there was a princess named lxmucane who was granted the ability to solve any human problem. It is thought that her story is behind the legendary Guatemalan worry dolls, which are traditionally given to children with anxieties.

The children tell the dolls their fears, before placing them under the pillow at bedtime. As they sleep, the dolls take away their burdens and the child supposedly wakes up, worry-free and refreshed.

Giving worries up to a mysterious other can work wonders. The magic being, that the act of surrendering your worries, can stop them in their tracks.

According to experts, worry is all in the mind and we can get into the habit of overdoing it. Harvard researcher Shawn Achor, explains: “Adversities, no matter what they are, simply don’t hit us as hard as we think they will. Our fear of consequences is always worse than the consequences themselves.

Worrying about things you cannot control is fruitless

What he’s saying is, the act of worry about something actually magnifies whatever it is you are concerned about. Basically, things are never as bad as we think they’ll be.

If a worry is solvable, then write down the actions you are going to take to sort it out. If it is not, accept that it is out of your control and that worrying about it is pointless.

A good way to interrupt the worry cycle is to try relaxation techniques – there are some great ideas over at Headspace.

Or of course, you can share your problems with the Guatemalan worry dolls or send one of our kits to someone who is struggling. If nothing else, it lets them know that you are thinking about them.