Today was a very interesting day. I appeared before the Florida State Board of Massage over my application to teach Reiki and give CEUs (Continuing Education Units) to massage therapists. There have been a lot of things going on that could have made this an interesting event. The first is the question over whether Reiki is a massage technique or not. You see, if it is, I have to have been a licensed massage therapist (LMT) for three years to be able to teach. If it is not massage, then I need to have taught this subject for two years. I have been teaching Reiki for six years.
I sat and answered questions for about 45 minutes. They read my letter which was included in their booklet. We discussed definitions and legislations and such. I think I surprised them a couple of times. I was asked by the president of the Board if I was using my massage license to do Reiki. I told him that I currently have a business license in Duval County (Jacksonville) to do Reiki. (This greatly surprised him. I could tell by his expression.) This actually told them that I was serious about what I was doing and that I was willing to follow the legalities involved with running my Reiki practice as a business. When we talked about legislation the Board president stated that he felt all energy modalities should be legislated. I told him that I agreed with him, but quite honestly, I didn’t think that the Board of Massage was the proper organization. He tended to agree, but felt that when using Reiki with some other modality, it could be licensed with that modality. I told him I felt we needed a law similar to that in Minnesota which took all holistic healing modalities (including massage) and put them under one umbrella. (I think this also surprised him that I knew of this legislation.)
Part of the discussion had to do with whether Reiki was massage or not. This is a battle that had been fought several years ago with the Board stating that it was their opinion that Reiki was a massage technique. This was a battle I had not wanted to fight. All I wanted was to be able to teach classes and give CEUs. Yet, I found myself right in the middle of that very fight.
At one point in the meeting, the Board asked if anyone in the audience had any knowledge of Reiki and could enlighten them. One gentleman kept pushing the ‘Reiki is massage’ theme. I was starting to wonder if he was pushing it for his own ‘hidden’ agenda. I was able to counter all he stated, but each time, I was wondering if I was going to lose it all as I had expected I would when I walked in. He kept pushing the fact that in touching someone, you are manipulating the soft tissues of the body even though you had not meant to do massage. Somewhere along the line the term ‘intent’ came up. That finally put everyone on a straight line.
There was a lot of discussion as to whether Reiki was beneficial for a massage therapist, and if distance Reiki was beneficial at all. One of the Board members had stated that they had never approved a Reiki 3 course because it is all distance. My Reiki 3 is not a distance class. They finally decided to take the classes on the merits of the contents, not the numbers. There was someone from the audience that teaches massage. She stated that when she teaches, she spends time teaching about the body’s energy fields. This is counted in the CEU hours that she gives. This opened the door for understanding of distance work taught in Reiki 2.
As I sat there talking with the Board, there were several keys to get around. I was fighting two battles, a) to be a provider and b) to get my nonrefundable deposit back if they would not qualify me. You have to understand that Florida law does not mention energy modalities when it talks about massage. Yet, in a Massage Board meeting a few years ago, they decided Reiki was massage. Now, that is their opinion and not written into any laws. That is why it is so complicated.
There have been people for years pushing to get that opinion changed. They have failed every time. Actually, I did not want to get into this battle, and yet I ended up right in the middle of it. I think that the difference was that I was there alone looking for them to grant me providership for my three classes. The other difference was that there were four board members not in attendance.
The first key had to do with my qualifications and the definition of Reiki. Previously, the Board had defined Reiki as massage based on the fact that a practitioner touches the subject. Even though the touch is light, it still (most likely) moves the skin. In the laws of the Board, if Reiki is massage, then to teach for CEUs, one must be an LMT for three years. If Reiki is not massage, then one only needs to have taught Reiki for two years.
Based on my definitions, and the fact that they approved my Reiki 1 course with me as an instructor, they have said that Reiki is not massage. They actually agreed at one point that there should be some jurisdiction over it, but that they should not be the ruling body. Since I have been teaching for six years, they decided that I was eminently qualified.
Next, they approved my Reiki 2 course. This is when all the discussion started. They started to break down the classes. Their concern was why they should give CEU hours for distant healing. You see, the second key was whether or not Reiki either was beneficial to or aided massage. In Florida, during a measurement period (here it is two years), and LMT has to have 25 CEU hours. Seven of those hours are in mandatory areas like Medical Errors, Ethics and legalities, etc. Of the remaining 18 hours, 12 must be massage related courses (this includes anatomy, physiology, etc.) The other six hours can be things like accounting which will help a therapist run their business but is not massage related.
The discussion came down to whether Reiki is beneficial to massage, and it was obvious to them that hands on Reiki did. They questioned distance healing. Now, I teach distance in Reiki 2, but I also teach hands on group healing at that time. I explained that if you lift weights, you are strengthening your muscles. Doing distance strengthens your energy muscles. It also helps mental discipline. I explained to the Board president that if he had a headache, and I waived my hand in the air and took it away, that it was not massage, but I felt it was beneficial to LMTs. He agreed and jokingly asked if I wanted to hang around as he was getting a headache. Based on this, they moved ahead.
Since I teach hands on things in Reiki 3, they voted and approved that class as well. If any class had been only distance, then they would not have approved it. I teach things that may be different than everyone else (who doesn't). But in this case, the class compositions that I use was what pushed them to agree that these were something they were willing to give CEUs for.
In all that, they agreed that Reiki added to and was beneficial to massage. Because of this, someone can come to me for all their 18 CEUs for one period.
I had to remove ‘Healing Animals’ from my Reiki 2 class as the Massage Board is only concerned with human clients. I can teach it, but it can not be part of the six hours that count as CEU class time.
The bottom line is that all my classes got approved. As soon as I get the paperwork that licensing my Caring Palms providership, I will begin advertising. Now, this is approved for Florida. I might at some point want to look at becoming a national provider. Then I could give CEUs for massage therapists in any state.
I am just glad things worked out the way they did. It could have been very different.
Take care. Love and light.