Content and Structure

what you will be taught

At the Manuvision education program, you are taught a wide range of techniques and systems that provide you with the knowledge and tools to treat both body and mind. Over the course of the two years, you will explore all aspects of the body therapy craft:

• Technique and Empathy
• The Nervous System
• Breath and Emotions
• Attention and Relationship
• The Body and Its Functions
• Psychology and Dialogue
• The Body’s Energy System
• Training

Over the course of the two years, you will explore all aspects of the body therapy craft.

Technique and empathy

Technique is the skeleton on which we build the treatment. It is technique that drives the treatment forward.

• You learn to work directly on the body with pulsation, pressure, grip and massage techniques
• You learn to feel states of tension – the over-tense and the under-tense, the flexible and the inflexible, the stiff and the free
• You learn to relax the body

After a month at the ManuVision Training, you will have enough technical skills to go out and start working with other people.

Joint release is one of the techniques we explore once you have mastered the fundamental skills. When tension in the muscles, tendons, and connective tissue that support a joint becomes misaligned or compressed, we experience reduced flexibility and mobility. And if this has been going on for a long time, it cannot always correct itself.

You will learn techniques to help restore a joint to a better position — from slow stretches to quick mobilizations — always with respect for the joint’s natural limitations.

Empathy is what makes technique a treatment. It is the sensitivity needed to be able to sense which techniques are required in the individual situation. Empathy is therefore about sharpening the sensory intelligence or intuition, which we also call “seeing”. It is the ability to:

• See with all your senses and feel the connections between muscles, joints, and bones
• See the emotions behind a person’s patterns of tension
• See how a person’s history is reflected in the body
• See how we influence each other in everything we do

Empathy is everything that tells us about cause and effect and arouses our interest in investigating and asking questions. It is a distinctive feature of Manuvision body therapy and the way we teach in the program.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

Simply put, the nervous system is what underlies the psyche. It is the sensory apparatus that determines whether we encounter the world openly or closed. And therefore it is also through the nervous system that we can reinterpret the body’s past by working with the traumas that lie behind chronic muscle tension and held breathing.

The autonomic nervous system is the part of our nervous system that is outside of our conscious control. It is the sensory apparatus that controls our survival impulses and sends signals to the body’s muscles and organs when we become insecure. The nervous system reveals our past because its response to the environment depends on how it has “learned” to react based on previous experiences from traumatic situations. Therefore, mental states such as anxiety and stress are always associated with an alarmed nervous system.

You gain insight into the fight/flight mechanisms in shock and trauma situations and learn techniques to calm the autonomic nervous system. When you can calm the nervous system, you can also work with the chronic stress states that lie behind a body’s tension patterns.

‘You gain insight into the fight/flight mechanisms in shock and trauma situations and learn techniques to calm the autonomic nervous system. When you can calm the nervous system, you can also work with the chronic stress states that lie behind a body’s tension patterns.’

BREATHING AND EMOTIONS

Breathing is what connects the body, emotions and thoughts together, and releasing the breath is the most direct way to calm the nervous system. Breathing is also the function in our body that reacts first and most clearly when we are stressed. Therefore, body therapy is also about being able to read a person’s condition through breathing.

You learn techniques to relax the breath and thereby release repressed emotions. Because when the breath flows, the energy and emotions also flow.

Emotions are the movements inside us that we may tend to suppress or hold back. Retained emotions create tension and unrest in the body. Body therapy is therefore also about getting the emotions to flow freely through the breath.

You learn to stand with – and face – emotions, which can sometimes be large and violent, and you learn to help and guide another person through turbulent states without wavering yourself.

‘You learn techniques to relax your breathing and thereby release repressed emotions. Because when the breath flows, the energy and emotions flow too.’

ATTENTION AND RELATIONSHIP

Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of several elements at once. It is through mindfulness that you can be aware of both yourself and another person at the same time – what separates you and what connects you. It enables you to see the other person as a whole person and is thus the prerequisite for creating an authentic relationship with the client. Therefore, mindfulness is a foundation in the work as a Manuvision body therapist.

You will be given tools to train your attention, both through meditation and a series of exercises that we have refined over 22 years. In meditation, we turn our gaze inward. We train our attention to inner and outer impressions and our awareness of the connection between our body, thoughts and emotions. With Manuvision’s mindfulness exercises, we turn our gaze outward. We train our attention to grounding and interaction with the outside world. This is where you build the ability to use your body easily and effortlessly and create flow in your movements. It also supports your empathy and the touch of your hands.

Research shows that the most important criterion in any therapy situation is the strength of the relationship between client and therapist. That is why relationship work is a continuous part of the Manuvision training. We give you counterplay and tools to confront your blind spots and achieve greater self-insight. Only then can you meet another person and create the deep relationship expected of a Manuvision body therapist.

‘We train attention to internal and external impressions and awareness of the connection between our body, thoughts and emotions.’

THE BODY AND ITS FUNCTIONS

You will gain thorough insight into the musculoskeletal system’s structure of bones, joints, muscles, tendons and connective tissue. You will learn about the connections between the different muscle groups and how they react in movement. Through exercises, treatment and training, you will build a practical understanding and experience that enables you to remedy functional disorders and imbalances in the musculoskeletal system.

You will also gain basic knowledge about the body’s other basic functions, including the organs, lymphatic system and digestive system. You will learn, among other things, why the lymphatic system is important for the immune system and the body’s ability to cleanse, and how the nervous system, digestive system and psyche affect each other.

Gradually, you will gain an overview of the complex feedback system that the human organism is. You will build an ability to process specific problems and at the same time initiate the body’s self-healing processes, so that you let the body “do the work” as much as possible itself.

PSYCHOLOGY AND CONVERSATION

Body and psyche are interconnected. That is why psychology is also part of body therapy work. Psychology is the study of mental life, as it is expressed in people’s thoughts, feelings and urges.

In body therapy, we do not work with the stories of the head, but with the language of the body. We work with the psychological field through the body. This means that you learn to feel how stress and trauma settle in the nervous system and muscle tension. And you get to know the bodily signals and tension patterns that can be connected to shock and trauma situations.

In the training, we also work with the difficult art of talking to another person. What should be said, and what should not be said? You will learn a whole new language. Because when you start the training, you must learn to talk to the body: You must learn to hear the difference between when you talk to the client’s head and when and how you talk to the body. And you must not least learn to listen. By listening and reading the body, you will learn to see and meet the person behind all their many stories and defense mechanisms.

‘In body therapy we don’t work with the stories of the head, but with the language of the body. We work with the psychological field through the body. This means that you learn to feel how stress and trauma settle in the nervous system and muscle tension.’

THE BODY’S ENERGY SYSTEM

Based on meridian theory and pressure points, you will be introduced to the body’s energy system and the 5-element theory of the body’s meridian pathways and emotional connections.

It is the meridian pathways that give the body vitality. Simply put, illness is an expression of a lack of flow or blocked energy. Therefore, body therapy is also about loosening up everything that prevents the flow of energy in the body.

You will learn through techniques from acupressure and reflexology to start the processes needed to get the energy to flow freely and maintain balance in the body’s energy system.

‘You will learn through techniques from acupressure and reflexology to initiate the processes needed to get the energy to flow freely and maintain balance in the body’s energy system.’

AND WHAT YOU CANNOT PUT IN WORDS

Many students talk about the Manuvision training as a journey. They describe it as a feeling of “waking up” or having undergone a change. That is also why we like to call some of the work on the training an “inner mountaineering”. It is the work of daring to leave the senses open and encounter the boundaries within oneself.

Many will experience resistance along the way, as one does when the sensory apparatus is awakened and the boundaries are explored. But it is also in this field that one can create change. Perhaps one breaks with some of the old patterns and bad habits that have limited one’s musculature and view of the world. And perhaps new, unforeseen directions in life open up.

‘Many students talk about the Manuvision training as a journey. They describe it as a feeling of “waking up” or having undergone a personal change’

hands on and master’s apprenticeship teaching principle

Most of the teaching takes place at the table, and your learning takes place primarily through the body. The teaching is built on the master’s apprenticeship principle, and your teachers are masters in body therapy. On average, they each have around 20,000 treatments in their hands and 15 years of teaching experience.

The teaching team in Barcelona consists of 6 teachers, each offering their own approach to treatment. There is no one right way to treat. Difference is often a cause of conflict, but at Manuvision, difference is a natural part of any development process. Therefore, the diversity of the teachers is important because it ensures that you get a broad introduction to the body therapy craft and several profiles to reflect on.

‘The teaching is based on the master’s apprenticeship principle, and your teachers are masters in body therapy. On average, they each have around 20,000 treatments in their hands and 15 years of teaching experience.’

Read more: Teachers

Personal talent development

You will be assigned a personal contact person who will follow you closely throughout the two years. And you will receive ongoing personal evaluations that support your development and learning process.

Our approach to learning is that “all models are wrong, but some are useful”. Therefore, we do not try to force a system on you. Our focus is to help and guide you to develop your personal talent and to find your own path as a therapist.

Through the master apprenticeship principle, we work on what is called implicit learning. This means that we do not tell you what to do, but that we support you and give you feedback to develop and practice your own therapist practice.

‘Our focus is to help and guide you to develop your personal talent and to find your own path as a therapist.’

retreats

During the Manuvision education there are four retreats: Two overseas retreats in Germany and Sweden and an annual fasting retreats.

At the retreats in Germany and Sweden we get the opportunity to dive intensively into the work of treating. This is where it really gets going. In beautiful natural surroundings we delve into everything that elevates body therapy from techniques to treatment: How do I create a relationship with the person lying on the couch? And what can stand in the way of attention and empathy in the relationship with the client?

At the two annual fasting retreats you cleanse your body. Fasting helps to sharpen your senses and is part of the work of cultivating your attention. You learn how to react when everyday stimuli are taken away from you. And you get to know different food groups and how they affect your body and psyche.

‘In beautiful natural surroundings, we delve into everything that elevates body therapy from techniques to treatment’

Read more: Retreats

Treating preparation

From the very beginning of the Manuvision training, you are encouraged to do student treatments outside of school. This has a dual purpose: First, you will gain most of the experience you need to have something to bring to the teaching. Second, when you have finished the ManuVision Training, you will have built up a clientele and have a foundation to start your own business.

You will also be encouraged to do as much self-training as possible, because this creates a foundation for your future treatment practice and at the same time enables your own body to stand and work physically at a table for many hours – without getting tired.

The treatment practice is also an opportunity to finance some of the training along the way.

Read more: Students share

Examination

The education ends with an exam in treatment and training, which you must pass in order to be able to call yourself a Manuvision body therapist and trainer.

You will have the opportunity to be marketed on Manuvision’s therapist page for 100€ per year.