Washington Reflexology Association

How to get more out of your WRA membership

July 3rd, 2018

By Lisa Hensell, Washington Reflexology Association Charter Member & Reflexology of America’s 2018 Excellence in Education Award Recipient

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Q:  How can you get more out of your WRA membership?

A:  Get involved!

Washington Reflexology Association has been working for our profession and its professionals since 1997, promoting excellence and professionalism to people in our state and within the larger reflexology community.

In these past 21 years the organization has been a hive of activity!  Our passionate members have come together to manifest, produce and offer to WRA members the following very valuable resources:

• professional community and networking

• reflexology practitioner referral listings

• regular newsletters

• sharing of new research and case studies

• putting on conferences, hosting individual classes and sharing other educational opportunities

• participating in local special events

• offering special financing for members via the Kathy Schmidt Memorial Fund

• taking part in Reflexology Awareness Week

• keeping an eye on legislative activity

• helping protect our professional position when new laws were being created

• hosting meetings in different regions of the state to optimally accommodate our members

BUT… recently I have heard that some members don’t understand the value of the association. They don’t see the value of paying an annual fee and being a member of WRA. “What do I get out of it?”, they say.

What do I say? My friend, reflexology colleague, and ARCB President, Michael Rainone, put it best when he said this:

“You get out of it what you put into it.”

If you don’t feel that you’re getting what you want out of the association, join in. Add your thoughts and combine them with action to make a difference. Add your chemistry and life force to the mix and see how things change for the better, both for you and for WRA! It’s like the concept of microcosm/macrocosm: your microcosm reflects into the macrocosm of WRA. To improve the whole, add juice to the parts.

Investing your energy and commitment into the evolution and growth of WRA will bring much more value to you than if you are simply sending in your annual fee (or not even doing that). You will have a voice. You will be part of the creation of the future of our profession. Your experience will have a fundamental effect on the vitality of the association and of your perception of it. You will find that you are getting a great deal more value out of WRA if you participate differently with it.

After finishing reflexology school we tend to splinter off and go in our own directions. Revisit your community and find collaboration, education and friendship by coming to meetings and classes. Join the board. Write and send in some articles. Contribute to some of the items I listed at the beginning of this article. Nurture your fabulous profession and this association by focusing some energy on the bigger picture of it. If you don’t, you might just end up losing it.

When you join, attend, and participate, it helps feed and nourish a beautiful and strong system. It all starts with you

YOU + WRA = love, community, integrity, growth, creativity…

Join in!