Maureen Heher Karaffa

FAMILY: Joe Karaffa and I will be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary next month. We met at UNLV in 1973 and dated that year. Then we didn’t see each other for over 35 years. We both married other people, both divorced then got reacquainted in 2007.

We feel lucky that we are navigating this stage of our lives together with a lot of laughter and ease. I have no children but have been a stepmother twice. No, I don’t think I was wicked. Maybe they did!

OCCUPATION: In 1980 I apprenticed 1 year with a Shiatsu Master learning Shiatsu and Jin Shin Jyutsu (energy balancing). The next 20 years I practiced Healing Arts and Yoga. Received my Master Herbalist Certification from the School of Natural Healing in Park City, Utah and finished up my BA in English Lit from UNLV. Little did I know that degree would open the door for me to teach Shiatsu at the Community College for 8 years.

I initiated a Self-Care program for massage therapists which included yoga, meditation and nutrition. In 2002 I established Mindfulcare, a lifestyle counseling business and released a music CD of Tibetan Bells and Crystal Bowls called “Spirit Flows Through”.

FAVORITE HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES: I enjoyed all the dances and festivities, the friendships made. I remember Brother Drolet praying the rosary during our French exams. They were so hard.

HOW I LIKE TO SPEND MY TIME: I walk my 15-year-old Havanese early every morning (it’s more of a sniff and stroll). She only has 3 teeth left. Then I tend my cactus, succulent and herb garden and vegetables, swim and practice yoga.

I studied with a Himalayan Yogi who moved to San Diego in the 80’s. He taught meditation. I was his devotee for 30 years until he passed away. He lived near Sunny’s and Aman (Harry ) Keays’ yoga studio so when I went to SD three times a year for instruction I’d always take yoga classes at Full Circle. I have continued to take yoga classes from my dear friends Sunny and Aman twice a week on Zoom. They are the best teachers anywhere.

FUN TIDBIT(S) ABOUT ME: In 1989 I was invited to teach kundalini yoga in Moscow, Russia with an American contingent of Yogis. We were the first Western yoga teachers to visit after Glasnost opened up the country to foreigners. We flew on Aeroflot airlines. No seat belts, broken seats and the meal served was the neck of a chicken in some kind of gravy. When we arrived food lines wrapped around the block of cookie cutter, drab buildings with folks wanting fresh oranges to eat. I ate a lot of potatoes and carrots while there. The people of Russia were highly developed telepathically. It was a survival skill. We met people who had been imprisoned for practicing yoga.

HIGHTLIGHTS OF MY LIFE SINCE HIGH SCHOOL: I dropped out of UNLV my junior year wanting an adventurous life so I moved to Montana and bartended at a historic lodge halfway between East and West Glacier. It was 40 miles from the Blackfoot Indian Reservation.

Once, my friends and I ended up in Heart Butte at the foot of the Rockies. It’s the town at the center of the Reservation and we got stuck there for 3 days during a blizzard. I was able to witness a medicine man and his wife help a member of the Blood tribe from Canada release negative energy with chanting, prayer feathers and sage smoke. I felt blessed to have viewed those ceremonies.

Tired of shoveling snow for three winters, I got hired by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). My girlfriend and I were the only 2 women on a 15 man survey crew. We used to joke that she was Oceanic and I was Atmospheric as we drove from Montana to Texas on dirt roads exploring the West camping the whole way to the job site in Corpus Christi. We surveyed the gulf coast then continued to Florida surveying from the courthouse steps of Miami to the Florida Keyes with pink Flamingos flying overhead and watching alligators swim by in the canals.

When that job ended, we backpacked through Europe for 3 and a half months. Then I landed back in Vegas flat broke. Luckily, I met Nobuko who taught me Shiatsu and I started on a new journey.

Joe and I launched a new YouTube Channel in 2021 called Code Self Care. We have 7 videos up with more to come. Most are geared toward seniors. We have a good time making the videos so don’t laugh too hard. I don’t think I’ll ever retire.