Frequently Asked Questions

About the curriculum

Which course to start with

  • Which course should I start with and what comes next?

    There are two entry points in the Manual NVR curriculum. The Intro course is designed to give you essential skills and conceptual understanding that can immediately be applied to working with big structural patterns. After taking the Intro course, the next course for you to take in the NVR series is Manual NVR Part 1: Neck, Upper Thorax, and “Roots of Arms.” The Part 1 course takes you directly into a detailed, regional study of the upper thorax, neck, and shoulders, which is helpful for addressing orthopedic issues, recent injuries, and complex injury histories. The Intro course is not prerequisite for Part 1, so you could skip the Intro course and begin with Part 1. For more guidance, please read the questions below and click CURRICULUM in the menu at the top of the page.

  • What are the prerequisites for the Intro to Manual NVR course and Manual NVR Part 1?

    Before registering for the Manual NVR courses, you must have a massage therapy license or another license that allows you to work manually with clients (current licensure as a massage therapist, PT, physiotherapist, OT, nurse, chiropractor, acupuncturist, etc.).

  • As a motivated and studious new massage therapist, do I have enough experience and preparation for the Manual NVR program?

    Learning and applying NVR in your practice will be easier if you have at least three years of massage experience, training as a structural integrator, or education in physical therapy or osteopathy. If you have less than three years of experience as a massage therapist, have a current license to practice, and are eager to begin your NVR studies, you are welcome to take the Intro to Manual NVR course. After the Intro course, Kier will most likely ask you to pause before enrolling in Manual NVR Part 1, giving yourself a year or more to integrate what you have learned and develop your massage practice.

  • As a brand new structural integrator, which course should I start with?

    If you are a brand new structural integrator, you will greatly benefit from taking the optional Intro course—-Introduction to Manual Neurovascular Release (NVR) for Structural and Functional Balance. This course was originally designed for you! It will help you understand why and how classic structural integration works and add nuance and precision to what you are already doing. After taking the Intro to NVR course, Kier recommends you spend a year integrating the concepts into your SI Series work before continuing on to Manual NVR Part 1.

  • As an experienced structural integrator, will I benefit from the Intro to Manual NVR course?

    If anatomically precise and subtle work is new to you (osteopathic-style work), and you are entering this path of study with a “heavier hand,” no worries! The Intro course will ease you into making big change while using a lighter touch. You will develop your layer palpation skills while you expand your understanding of how the neural and vascular networks weave through the fascial layers in the body. You will learn to trust your ability to use less force with greater precision.

  • As a practitioner trained in visceral and neural manipulation, will I benefit from taking the Intro course or should I skip on to Manual NVR Part 1?

    You are welcome to start your NVR studies with the Intro to Manual NVR course or Manual NVR Part 1. If osteopathic-style precision is already in your skill set, and you haven't trained as a structural integrator, consider starting with the Intro course, which will help you see bodywide patterns and understand the profound influence that tension and restriction in the neurovascular tracts plays in how we hold ourselves and move through the world. (Lower body tension and restriction definitely contribute to head and neck issues.) If you abandoned “deep work” long ago because it was too invasive or too hard on your body, you will be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to receive and give the "myofascial" NVR techniques that are derived from classic structural integration and fine-tuned to liberate the neurovascular tracts. If you skip the Intro course because you are drawn to learning the details in the neck region first (thus, you start your NVR studies with Manual NVR Part 1), by the time you have completed Part 3, you will understand how to work strategically and efficiently with bodywide patterns.

  • As a movement teacher who is not yet a licensed manual therapist, I am interested in working with clients manually—can I begin studying Manual NVR?

    The Manual NVR courses are advanced training for licensed manual therapists. If you feel called to shift your practice by adding skills for doing Manual NVR with clients, then obtaining a basic massage license is the easiest path to licensure. You could accomplish this within one year. Before receiving a massage license, you can work through the Movement-Based NVR curriculum, which will give you NVR skills and concepts that will allow you to begin doing excellent and powerful work individually with clients while staying within your current scope of practice. After obtaining a massage license, you may take the Intro to Manual NVR course. After the Intro course, you can discuss with Kier the best timing for moving on to Manual NVR Part 1.

  • Who should skip the Intro to Manual NVR course?

    If your clinical practice is focused primarily on whiplash from motor vehicle accidents, your clients will get the most benefit from you taking Manual NVR Part 1. Kier recommends you follow up soon after with Manual NVR Part 2. Together these two classes will make your work with clients more efficient and more effective. If you are a physical therapist or osteopath who takes only two classes, those should be Manual NVR Parts 1 and 2. (Some people take a break between Part 2 and 3. This is a natural pause point in the curriculum.) By later completing Parts 3, 4, and 5, you will be better equipped to work with bodywide patterns in people with complex histories involving injuries and surgeries in multiple body regions. All the techniques and concepts in the Intro course are drawn from other parts of the Manual NVR curriculum. If you skip the intro and take Parts 1, 2, and 3, you will eventually learn all the skills and concepts taught in the Intro course. Parts 4 and 5 further enhance your ability to see and work with bodywide patterns. The Intro course provides a jumpstart on seeing and working with the whole body.

Previous students wanting to continue their NVR studies

  • If I already took NVR-SI Part 1 and have been waiting to do NVR-SI Part 2, when can I take it? How can I resume my studies?

    The curriculum has been improved and reorganized to provide all NVR students with more support: NVR-SI Part 1 has become the Intro to Manual NVR course (open to all manual practitioners), and NVR-SI Part 2 was a condensed version of Manual NVR Parts 1 and 2. It was too much to learn in one class, so if you already took NVR-SI Part 1, your next course in the series is now Manual NVR Part 1. (No worries if you can't remember or haven't been applying everything you learned in your NVR-SI Part 1 course! The techniques in NVR-SI Part 1 will be reviewed for you during Manual NVR Parts 1-3. IF you want to review what you learned in NVR-SI Part 1 BEFORE you continue on to Manual NVR Part 1, you may review for free online (ask me for access), or you may take the new Intro course in person as a reviewer for half price.

  • What if I already took NVR-SI Part 2, or NVR-SI Parts 2 and 3?

    If you already took NVR-SI Part 2, you are ready for Manual NVR Part 3. However, you may also use the reviewer's half-price discount for the in-person version of any of the first three courses in the current Manual NVR curriculum (Intro, Part 1, and/or Part 2). If you took NVR-SI Part 3, you may now take Manual NVR Part 4. You can use the reviewer's half-price discount for any of the first four in-person Manual NVR courses (Intro through Part 3). If you are motivated to review NVR techniques on your own, please ask for free access to the online version of any of the courses you have already taken.

  • What if I took Nerve and Artery Mobilization prior to 2018?

    If you studied with me when I started teaching, the courses were too packed with techniques. Since then, the first two Nerve and Artery Mobilization courses have expanded to six NVR courses, and I have slowed everything down for better integration. Reach out to schedule a Zoom call with me if you are not sure where you want to jump back in. I am happy to offer you a reviewers' discount (50%) on the tuition for your first two courses.

About NVR in practice

Where do the NVR perspectives and practices come from?

  • From classic structural integration, we often utilize a broad, firm touch combined with client movement...

    We aim to improve overall structural balance as we rehydrate stuck tissues and differentiate fascial layers (which frees the neurovascular tracts). In each session, we consider full-body structural patterns. We collaborate with the client and help them understand the flow and sequence of their sessions. We sometimes work with them seated or standing. We cultivate interoceptive awareness within the client as we improve their overall efficiency and quality of movement.

  • From Canadian/European-style osteopathy, we utilize precise and delicate tissue-specific manipulation...

    This approach is minimally applied to organs, vessels, fascial support structures, and the neural network, carefully choosing small interventions that facilitate the body’s self-healing and self-organizing functions.

  • From clinical massage, our soft tissue manipulation is often aimed at reducing pain...

    We work toward restoring the client's mobility and ease of movement which may have been compromised by recent or historical injuries and/or surgeries. Injury-related work is often more regionally focused, though we maintain peripheral attention on overall structural balance.

  • From yoga, we use movement exploration and breath to cultivate our client’s internal awareness of specific areas of tension...

    These movements facilitate subtle tissue change and subsequent "opening." They serve as pretests and post-tests to help us track our progress. With a yoga-type approach (also with a structural integration approach), we are working toward overall structural balance with improved proprioception and interoception, improved mobility, increasing self-compassion, and an appreciation of our bodies' fantastic intelligence.

  • What is Kier's background and training in manual therapy?

    I was first licensed as a massage therapist in 1998 and practiced for seven years before training as a structural integrator. (My focus was shiatsu, but I also trained in PNF, studied trigger point books, and used orthopedic massage techniques for people with MVAs.) I completed my training as a structural integrator in 2005 and then began learning osteopathic techniques (visceral and neural manipulation, mostly Barral approach as taught by Christoph Sommer). I continued studying visceral work and functional methods (with Jeffrey Burch) and was introduced to working with arteries, tendons, bursae and joints from 2011-2016. I learned to work with trauma from a somatic experiencing practitioner (Lael Keen) in the context of practicing structural integration in 2015. Meanwhile I assisted and then co-taught structural integration with the ATSI program from 2013-2019.

  • What is Kier's movement background?

    I have practiced yoga since 2005, with periods of lapse and regularity, in several styles and with several favorite teachers. Before that, I trained extensively in martial arts, rowing, soccer, and weight training, and throughout my life, I have enjoyed a variety of other physical pursuits, including hiking, gardening, ecstatic dance, contact improv and partner dancing, swimming, kayaking, paddling, skiing, ultimate frisbee, and very briefly Pilates, basketball, and racquetball--enough to understand a variety of injuries and training strategies!

Effectiveness of NVR

  • How does artery work assist with structural bodywork?

    When you have reduced the body’s subconscious need to protect the neural and vascular networks, your client will have less pain, more efficient movement, better proprioception, more productive stretching, and greater freedom. They may feel and look taller, their joints may function and move more freely, and you may witness more intrinsic support and efficient alignment in the field of gravity. Artery work, in combination with nerve work that promotes glide and extensibility, helps clients achieve lasting and profound change in the way they move through the world.

  • Is there any research or documentation on the efficacy of NVR?

    The artery release techniques and concepts we use are borrowed directly from osteopathy. We who use them see profound and immediate results daily with our clients. Although other authors or researchers have not provided much written information about how adjusting tension and slack within the artery network helps to balance structure and free movement, the concepts make sense in practice. We see lasting change throughout the structure when we approach structural and functional problems with this gentle approach. Experienced practitioners with research training or interest in research are invited to develop formal case studies on the use of NVR.

  • Kier, what do you hypothesize is actually happening when you “release arteries?”

    In the practice of NVR, we use palpation, visual assessment, and passive and active client movement to identify hypertonicity and shortening within the myofascial network, and then we manually adjust the amount of tension within the artery network by reducing and reapplying a subtle stretch “below the threshold of neuromotor protection.” The neuromotor system responds by reducing protective hypertonicity in muscles that have been pulling at the myofascial fabric, causing movement restriction and postural imbalance. (Essentially, this artery work is still nerve work.)

About registering and changing your plans

What are your cancellation and refund policies?

  • For the distance learning Manual NVR courses

    For the distance learning courses, if cancelling within 2 days of registering, you will receive a 90% refund of what you paid. If you realize you can't follow through with watching the recordings, practicing, and attending live the online Q&A sessions, there will be no refund, but you may watch the class recordings on your own and attend the Q&A live the next time the course is offered.

  • For the in-person Manual NVR courses

    If you need to cancel your enrollment 45 or more days before class, you will receive a 90% refund of the tuition you have paid. If you must cancel enrollment less than 45 days before class starts, you may shift your registration to a future NVR class (online or in-person) or receive a 75% refund.

  • For the Movement-Based NVR Home Study Modules

    There are no refunds for Home Study Modules.

About course access

  • How long will I have access to the online recordings in my course?

    You will have access to your courses for as long as I am teaching. If I switch course platforms, you will be given access to your courses on the new platform. The Home Study Modules and supplemental materials in other courses may be updated periodically. When this happens, the changes will automatically appear within your course. (Outdated course material may be updated or replaced with new course material.)