Don’t let the title trick you into thinking this course is elementary! This course provides an opportunity to begin the advanced Manual NVR course series by working with the whole body before diving into regional studies.
The NVR curriculum integrates techniques, perspectives, and practices from structural integration, osteopathy, and clinical massage.
This Intro to Manual NVR course sets the stage for practitioners to begin working with osteopathic subtlety and precision.
It is an ideal starting point for structural integrators and practitioners who like working with whole body structural patterns. It can stand alone or prepare you for the deeper dive you will take in the next five courses of the Manual NVR curriculum.
The techniques and strategies you learn in this course will help you improve left-right and front-back balance throughout the body and establish a foundation for working more effectively with the nerves and vessels that weave through the fascial layers.
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.
(If you are a structural integrator who has already taken other nerve classes, this may serve as the perfect bridge to help you integrate nerve and artery work with classic structural integration.)
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:
You will learn NVR techniques and approaches for:
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, e.g., massage therapist, physiotherapist, physical therapist, structural integrator, nurse, or naturopathic physician. (Kier recommends that you have three years of massage experience, training as a structural integrator, or education in physiotherapy or osteopathy before embarking on your Manual NVR journey.)
Please see the FAQ for guidance on whether to take this Intro course or Manual NVR Part 1.
A 3-day in-person immersion (24 credit hours) with additional 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 is £750 (approximately €879 or $991 USD). Use the link at the top of this page to pay by credit card.
If you want to pay via PayPal or direct bank transfer, contact Tiina at +44 71 8509 9662.
To support you and your body, individual mentoring sessions will be available on the day before class or the morning after class for £135 (approximately €158 or $178 USD before adding currency conversion). In these individual mentoring/bodywork sessions, Kier will work with you to provide what your body needs. 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. Reach out to Kier to schedule.
✅ 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!
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
