Manual NVR course series and certification program

Continuing education for licensed manual therapists, including massage therapists, structural integrators, and physical therapists

The Manual NVR curriculum integrates techniques, perspectives, and practices from structural integration, osteopathy, and clinical massage. In this six-course series you will learn to improve structural and functional balance by implementing techniques and strategies for working with tension in the artery network, fascial restriction of peripheral and cranial nerves, dural restrictions in the spinal column and head, and neural and vascular tension affecting the viscera. After the Intro course, the next four courses each have a regional focus, and the final course is a capstone that brings together all you have learned.  

Introduction to Manual NVR for Structural and Functional Balance can stand alone or prepare you for the advanced study offered in the next five courses of the Manual NVR curriculum. The techniques and lessons selected for this course will help you improve left-right and front-back balance throughout the body, rather than in just one body region. This lays the foundation for understanding how to work effectively with the nerves and vessels that weave through the fascial layers. For this optional but highly recommended introductory course, we will lean into the practices and perspectives of a structural integrator, and you will begin to work with osteopathic subtlety and precision.

Manual NVR Part 1: Neck, Upper Thorax, and "Roots of Arms" provides a deep dive into details in the neck, head, and upper thorax region, including the shoulder girdle, the rib cage, and the neural, vascular, and visceral contents of the rib cage. This course may be taken without first taking the Intro course. If you do therapeutic work with people who have sustained whiplash injuries, either recent or historical, this is the course that will benefit your clients the most. (Please refer to the FAQ for guidance about whether to take the Intro course or begin with Part 1.)

Manual NVR Part 2: Lower Thorax, Pelvis, and Hips provides a deep dive into working with the pelvis and hips, and allows us to complete our work with the thorax and spine. You will gain skills and strategies for balancing pelvic torsion, improving hip function, and addressing left-right asymmetry throughout the spine. We will review Part 1 techniques as we tend the central nervous system. Parts 1 and 2 area a set and your clients will benefit the most if you take these two classes in the same year. (You may want to take a break after Part 2 before continuing on with Parts 3, 4, and 5.)

Manual NVR Part 3: Lower Extremities provides a review of essential Part 2 techniques and a detailed study of the lower legs and feet. We consider body-wide postural patterns and work on functional balance in the lower body.

Manual NVR Part 4: Upper Extremities revisits the territory of upper thorax, neck, and shoulder girdle as we add details for the arms, hands, and viscera. (Throughout Parts 3 and 4, we will build your assessment skills and consider whole body patterns.)

Manual NVR Part 5: Assessment and Strategy Practicum is a clinic-style class where we bring outside models to receive full sessions. Our focus will be on assessment, strategy, and the flow of each session. We will consider client goals and concerns, client history, what you see, and what you learn through palpation and movement pretests. There will be opportunity to review techniques from previous classes as the need arises during each session. You will form your session strategies under Kier’s guidance with the collaborative support of your classmates, and you will experience "four-handed work."

Movement-Based NVR home study courses, small group mentoring, and certification program

Neurovascular anatomy, self-treatment, and guided practice for movement teachers and manual therapists, including yoga teachers, Pilates instructors, structural integrators, and physical therapists

Kier began developing the Movement-Based NVR curriculum from their Manual NVR techniques (converted into self-treatment techniques) during the first two years of COVID, for the purpose of working with clients and colleagues online. Their approach to guided self-treatment has since evolved into its own study program for movement teachers and manual therapists who work with clients while they are moving. 

The self-treatment techniques and teaching strategies will provide you with new ways of improving your client's movement range, fine-tuning their structural balance, and cultivating their interoceptive ability. 

Initially, you will learn to work on your own body’s structural balance, opening it up to freer movement. You will build your own internal map of the neurovascular network through anatomy lessons that are coupled with guided practice, and you will practice listening to and witnessing your body’s subtle responses. Discussion and homework will focus on how to guide clients through a similar discovery and embodiment process.  

You and your clients or patients will experience:

  • improved range and quality of movement
  • better functional and structural balance
  • a better-regulated nervous system with improved vagal tone.


Movement-Based NVR will also prepare your clients and students for other forms of manual therapy or movement training and will help them become more resilient and less susceptible to injury.