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April 4, 2005

Hands on | A chat with Deborah Moran, owner of Being One Institute of Holistic Healing in Lewiston.

By Rebecca Lamet
Founded: May 2004
Employees: One
Startup costs: $10,000
Revenues, 2004: $5,000
Projected revenues, 2005: $43,000
Contact: 783-4161
157 Main St., Lewiston

So you run a school for holistic studies. What are holistic studies?
The school teaches massage and Reiki therapy. Massage therapy is bodywork ˆ— that is the most simplistic way of putting it. Reiki is a hands-on healing modality with its roots in Tibet in the late 19th century. "Rei" means universal and "ki" means life-force energy. While with massage you are manipulating the muscles, in Reiki your hands are lying on the body directing natural energy forces.

How did you get into this field?
I am a licensed psychotherapist, massage therapist, hypnotherapist and Reiki master.
For me it was a very spiritual thing. In 1993, when I was a massage therapist, I was given a patient on referral [who told me about Reiki]. At that time I had never heard of Reiki. After working with that patient and talking to her Reiki practitioner, that convinced me that I wanted to know more about this method of healing.

How did you end up opening a school for these practices in Lewiston?
I moved to Maine five years ago. In some ways, it was an accident, an absolute coincidence. I was going to teach Reiki as a psychotherapist or massage therapist but [the state] told me that to have a school I had to be licensed to teach for a diploma-level course. I had to fill out an application and pay a fee. I had to get a surety bond to make sure if I went out of business my students would be covered for their tuition, and I had to submit curriculums. I became one of the first people licensed for Reiki by the [Maine] Department of Education.

How did you finance your launch?
On a wish and a prayer. I had some financial capital, but not much. I also had a great landlord who was willing to make a deal on how much I would pay for the office. I'm paying 50% less than the original price.

I met with him and I used what I call creative visualization. I said, "This is what we can afford, and we know you are going to say yes because I can see myself practicing here." My belief is that if you think it and speak it, it will manifest.

How do you market your school?
We advertise some in the Twin City Times and in the [Lewiston] Sun Journal, but it's not constant advertising. We work a lot by referral and word of mouth.

Do holistic studies work with or in place of traditional medicine?
I have a healthy respect for [traditional] medicine. There is a time and place for all kinds of healing. If patients in hospitals ask for a Reiki practitioner, I have found doctors to be very amenable to that. We work a lot with cancer patients to reduce pain caused by the cancer or chemotherapy.

What is your competition like?
There are other massage schools, but they have a different purpose. I have small classes and my tuition is much [lower]. We want to reach students who are in a socio-economic place where they cannot afford to go to another school. Our tuition for massage is only $5,000 per year. Reiki I is $250 and Reiki II is $350.

What was the biggest challenge going from idea to reality?
The biggest challenge was the controversy over becoming a licensed school. There was some concern whether I was going to be regulated in the way I teach Reiki.

What are your plans for growth?
It's not a large school and it will stay that way. Bette Arsenault, one of my first Reiki students, is now my partner in the school. Very few Reiki students that I have go on to the teaching level. Reiki is a way of life and you are on call 24 hours a day to give Reiki when it's asked for. Not many students want to take on that responsibility.

I do have hopes for growing in terms of the holistic modalities I teach. At the end of this year I plan to submit an application to teach hypnotherapy.

I imagine that teaching and running the business is pretty hard work. Do you ever get a massage to help you relax?
I get a massage twice a week.


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