Through writing, one therapist found a new avenue to help others.
Konstantin Rega: What inspired this book?
Pamela Cappetta: During the 11 years teaching mindfulness in small groups, through my private psychotherapy practice, I’ve had my therapy dogs (Maude, the full-sized Australian shepherd, and now Kramer, the toy American shepherd) present for these 8-week and weekend trainings. Maude intuitively would lie down when I rang the bells to note the beginning of our meditations. Her presence was comforting and supportive for everyone. We started calling this “Meditations with Maude.” Both dogs (Maude’s officially in puppy heaven) have loved the humans who attend these trainings. On one occasion, Maude whimpered during a meditation to alert us before someone collapsed onto the floor unconscious. Maude’s presence was critical in that moment for everyone, including the woman who had extremely low blood sugar.
Being read to as an adult is tremendously soothing, and I often read poetry or contemplative stories during the mindfulness trainings. Mindful Moments with Maude grew out of the experiences I had teaching and witnessing peacefulness displayed by participants. When I was a little girl, my dog, Fluffy, was my companion and mindfulness teacher. We were using mindfulness before I even knew what it was. Sitting in the pampas grass with her feeling the breezes and listening to the sounds as I kept my hand on her chest, I found peace and safety. This idea of “paying attention on purpose in the moment” [the definition of mindfulness] was my coping strategy as a child in a severely dysfunctional family. Fluffy helped me regulate my fears and provided comfort and unconditional love. She was my constant companion. This is why Maude is a major character in this book, along with the grandmother who provides a cozy room, yummy pancakes, the opportunity to learn about bonding, and to experience a peaceful day without electronics. [Watching families with each person being on their electronics, while out for a play date or a meal and not looking at each other, I become heartbroken. I feel deep grief for the missed opportunities of connecting with each other.]
Like a good children’s animated movie, having a message for the children and a separate message for caregivers is embedded within this picture book. Mindful Moments with Maude opens with Addie waking up after a loud storm the previous night. Maude, the Australian Shepherd, teaches Addie to learn mindful breathing and noticing her body as she gets out of bed and faces a new day. Six-year-old Addie just wants to slow down and stop rushing while she’s visiting her Grammy. Addie gets to hold and name the new Rhode Island Red hens and experience a day without electronics--a Mindfulness Day. I wanted to create for children and their caregivers a narration where each could learn both soothing and simple practices for bringing mindfulness into daily life filled with bonding and paying attention to simple things.
What do you want readers to get from your book?
I want people to experience “being in the moment” and savoring the invisible connections with each other and with the pets in their lives. I want them to give a day, or even and hour, without electronics a chance. Experiencing sensations in our bodies and listening to sounds, along with tasting our food and feeling our feelings, is key to awareness and sensitivity to daily moments.Even labeling negative emotions allows the nervous system to decrease the need for it to keep intensifying these experiences. I want to inspire families and friends and groups of people to leave their phones and tablets “on the kitchen table” and look into each other’s eyes and really listen and see what is present. Right now, in this moment.
My desire is for folks to find well-being by noticing how mindfulness brings about connection, insight, awareness, and often, purpose. Our lives are filled with daily challenges and stressors that can cause dysregulation. Refocusing on this moment, breathing in and out, and creating space for connection can bring about more positive coping as well as a decrease in the body’s production of stress hormones.
What inspired you to become a therapist?
How much time do we have in this interview? During my time in rural Pennsylvania as a child and young woman, I was terribly unhappy and sought solace with reading, singing, playing flute, and spending time in nature. Home was not a sanctuary. After Christmas when I was 14, my mother attempted suicide. I found her that day slumped behind the bathroom door. I did not know where to turn or who to talk to. No one talked about mental illness or suicide then. When the College of William and Mary offered a degree within the School of Education for professional counseling, I applied. I wanted to be the person that a child could come to and share those dark, embarrassing, and shameful experiences and provide guidance and solutions.
Do you have any other projects planned?
My granddaughter, Madi Kochanek, and I are planning on expanding the activity pages we’ve created for the book into a workbook. Madi has helped tremendously with the design. She used the beautiful artwork of the illustrator, David Gnass, to create activity pages that include coloring pages, color by number, and a word scramble. I am also looking forward to developing digital lesson plans for teachers to utilize for teaching mindfulness from this book.
What do you like most about your work?
I love the opportunity to meet amazing humans and journey with them during some of the darkest and most challenging moments in their lives. I cherish the connections and value the gift it is to be a “sacred witness” to their healing journey. Bringing my love of writing, children, dogs, and family to the creation of a children’s book has been a dream of mine. Reading and visiting the library was a precious and wonderful escape into another realm. Hopefully this book, Mindful Moments with Maude, will bring these precious moments to others. Parents and children alike.
Find a copy at Mascot Books.
