This class will be a "go" as soon as eight practitioners express interest in registering for this course. Then, we will open it for registration, allowing up to twelve students in the class.
We must hear from you no later than April 15th, because the course dates we have selected are coming up very soon, and we all need to make travel arrangements and reserve time in our schedules, plus some of us must apply for visas!
Email Kier at [email protected] or message Kier directly via the Signal app at +1 503 720 7403.
This introductory course to Neurovascular Release work can stand alone or prepare you for the deeper dive included in the next five courses of the full NVR curriculum. The techniques and lessons selected for you to start with will help you improve left-right and front-back balance throughout the body, rather than in just one region. This lays the foundation for understanding how to work effectively with the nerves and vessels that weave through the fascial layers.
The NVR curriculum integrates techniques, perspectives, and practices from structural integration, osteopathy, and clinical massage. This first course sets the stage for practitioners to begin working with osteopathic subtlety and precision.
In this course, we will lean into the practices and perspectives of a Structural Integrator. Clients are fully clothed for NVR sessions, so they are free to stand, walk, and explore movement during a session. Movement helps your client integrate the changes you are making, cultivating their interoceptive and proprioceptive awareness. It also helps you see and track changes in your client’s quality and range of movement.
We will discuss a few specific therapeutic applications (such as plantar fasciitis, whiplash, and scoliosis), but the emphasis in this course is on structural and functional balance in the fascial system, through the NVR lens. If your practice already focuses on orthopedic issues, you will be excited to add the techniques you learn in this class to your tool kit.
Our focus will be centered on:
In this course, you will be learning NVR techniques and approaches for the rib cage, erector spinae, neck, hip flexors, hamstrings, gluteal muscles, piriformis, and hip adductors.
Return home with fresh insight and immediately useful methods for improving overall front-to-back and left-right balance.
Prerequisite: You must be a licensed manual therapist in your state (e.g., massage therapist, physical therapist, structural integrator). Kier recommends that you have three years of massage experience, training as a structural integrator, or education in physical therapy or osteopathy before embarking on your Manual NVR journey.
Please see the FAQ in the menu above for guidance on whether to take this Intro course or Manual NVR Part 1.
A 3-day in-person immersion (24 credit hours) with online review opportunities
Benefit immediately from hands-on guidance by Kier
Throughout class, receive this work from Kier and fellow students to help you understand and fine-tune your touch
Receive ten to fifteen minutes of individualized integrative work from Kier during the last hours of class to settle your systems before you go home.
Recruit a friend to help you deepen your learning
Would you like to receive NVR regularly after completing this course?
• Take care of your body's needs by making sure there is a practitioner near you who also knows NVR.
• Enhance your learning by studying and practicing regularly with someone who lives near you.
Both practitioners must reach out to Kier to share the name of their practice partner (via the Signal app +1 503 720 7403). By registering with coupon code Buddies2025, each of you will receive a 20% discount.
Tuition for this three-day course will be £750 (approximately €891 or $965 USD).
Our local sponsor in the UK will handle registration via credit card, PayPal, or direct bank transfer. After we hear from eight students, she will contact you directly to find out how you would like to pay. With payment via credit card or direct bank transfer, you can pay your tuition in three monthly payments. Registration will be capped at 12 students!
To support you and your body, individual mentoring sessions will be available for £135 (approximately €160 or $175 USD before adding currency conversion). In these individual mentoring/bodywork sessions, Kier will work with you to provide what your body needs in preparation for the work you will receive in class. This is recommended if you have a complex injury history. With your permission, an advanced NVR student will attend your session to observe and assist.
✅ Cancellation Policy and Refunds
If you cancel up to 8 weeks before the course starts, you will receive a full refund minus a 10% processing fee. For cancellations between 8 and 4 weeks before the course starts, a cancellation fee of 50% will apply. If you cancel less than 4 weeks before the course, the full course fee will be charged.
You may designate a substitute participant!
Plan your journey
As you progress through the curriculum, you can alternate between distance learning and in-person courses.
Introduction to Manual NVR for Structural and Functional Balance (this course) is only offered in person. It provides essential concepts and skills for all manual therapists who want to improve structural and functional balance by working with the nerves and arteries.
You may choose to do Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 entirely in distance learning format, however, Kier encourages you to attend Part 1 in person so that you can feel and benefit from the detailed neck work in your own body!
Part 5 is held in person only and is an important capstone to your training.
Parts 1 and 2 are the first level of detailed NVR study and need to be taken in order. In Part 1, we will focus on neck, shoulders, and upper thorax mobility, including some work for the lungs and vagus nerve. In Part 2, we will continue our work with the torso, focusing on the pelvis, hips, and thighs.
In Parts 3 and 4, the next level within the curriculum, we will study the distal extremities in great detail. We will review techniques for the proximal extremities and thorax and continue working with neurovascular restrictions affecting the organs. Because we will be building on skills learned in the first two courses and expanding your understanding of session strategy and lower and upper body patterns, Parts 1 and 2 are prerequisites for Parts 3 and 4.
Manual NVR Part 5 is a practicum focused on assessment and practical application. In full sessions with outside models, you will apply all that you have learned in Parts 1 through 4, practicing session strategy under Kier’s guidance. This is a great opportunity to bring family members with you to receive work!
Email Kier at [email protected] by April 15th at 11 pm in the UK (2300 UTC).
Checklist: What to do after registering
FREE PREVIEWIntro to videos that prepare you for Part 1: Cultivating Interoception
Intro Video 1: What is Neurovascular Release? Why are we doing this?
Intro Video 2: Basic neck techniques, "Balloon lift"
Intro Video 3: Technique - "Wilted Flower" and the upper intercostal spaces
Intro Video 4: Is wilted flower technique addressing nerve or artery?
Intro Video 5: Internal thoracic artery technique demo (recorded in 2018 during an in-person Manual NVR Part 1 class)
Anatomy Resources: Netter, Thieme, and the Complete Anatomy App
FREE PREVIEWAgreements about your Technique Manual
NVR Contraindications and Cautions - notes for discussion
2025 Intro to Manual NVR technique manual - pages 1-15
2025 Intro to Manual NVR technique manual - pages 16-47
Bonus PDF on how to work with torsion, lateral shift, and lateral tilt of the pelvis
Video recordings of techniques presented in your Intro to Manual NVR course
Video 1 - demonstration (pages 5-6) - artery to spinal erector
Video 2 - guided practice - artery to spinal erectors
Guidelines for review and practice of thorax techniques
Video 3 - demonstration - internal thoracic artery (pages 8-9)
Video 4 - discussion - internal thoracic artery
Video 5 demonstration #1 - lower intercostal arteries (page 10)
Video 6 - demonstration #2 - lower intercostal spaces (bolstering and technique variations)
Video 7 - anatomy - preparation for sidelying intercostal work (pages 11-12)
Video 8 - discussion with structural integrators about how to use the intercostal work within the SI Series.
Video 9 - extended demonstration - lateral cutaneous branches of intercostal nerves and arteries
Video 10 - questions - lateral cutaneous branches of intercostal nerves
Video 11 - demonstration- Kier narrates while doing a short Manual NVR session with Caroline
Video 12 - practice tip - guiding students into finding more effective release through yoga
Video 13 - guided practice - "Tiger Stripes" seated intercostal work
Guidelines for reviewing and practicing NVR for the Neck
Video 14 - anatomy (followed by self-treatment) - artery to scalenes
Video 15 - demonstration - artery to scalenes (page 14)
Video 16 - guided practice - artery to scalenes
Video 17 - extra demo - artery to scalenes
Video 18 - demo - brachial plexus from above
Video 19 - anatomy - brachial plexus (pages 16-18)
Video 20 - self-palpation - brachial plexus (finding handholds in arm on self)
Video 21 - demonstration - brachial plexus (finding handholds on someone else)
Video 22 - guided practice - brachial plexus handholds (follow along while palpating these on a volunteer)
Video 23 - demonstration - deep cervical artery (page 19)
Video 25 - discussion - deep cervical artery
Video 25 - anatomy - occipital artery
Video 26 - demonstration - occipital artery (pp 46-47)
Video 27 - guided practice - occipital artery
