Do You Suffer from Back Pain, Constant Fatigue, Exhaustion or Digestive Problems?
- Aug 19
- 6 min read
Matijas Slivnik is a naturopath specializing in burnout, hormonal balance, and chronic fatigue. He combines natural medicine, energy healing, and healing sounds to help clients restore body and mind, delivering lasting results with over 12 years of experience.
Back pain, joint problems, bloating, fatigue, exhaustion, and the feeling that your body simply cannot keep up the way it used to. These are challenges that an increasing number of people experience today. We often try to address these problems separately: one approach for the spine, another for digestion, and a third for stress. Yet the human body is not made up of isolated, unrelated parts.
This is precisely why PraNaturas Naturopathy (PraNaturas Naturopatija) has emphasised a holistic view of the individual in its therapeutic work for many years. Within the PraNaturas naturopathic approach, different complementary therapeutic methods may be incorporated, including manual therapy based on the VITO Natural Healing Method (VITO terapija/Naravno Zdravljenje Vito). The PraNaturas team received intensive training in this manual method more than a decade ago.
When pain becomes part of everyday life
When you get out of bed in the morning, are you already experiencing pain in your knees, joints or spine during your first few steps? Perhaps you have become so accustomed to discomfort that you barely notice it anymore.
One characteristic of long-term musculoskeletal problems is this gradual adaptation to pain. Over time, a person may change the way they move, their posture, the amount of physical load they place on their body, and even their everyday habits.
A similar pattern can occur with digestion. After eating, you may experience bloating, heaviness, discomfort, irregular bowel movements, or other digestive issues. When chronic fatigue and poor sleep are added to the picture, it can become easy to find yourself caught in a vicious cycle.
The body does not work in separate compartments. For this reason, PraNaturas does not focus solely on an individual symptom during its therapeutic work. Instead, the aim is to understand the broader picture of a person's wellbeing, lifestyle and overall physical and emotional load.
This holistic perspective is also characteristic of their naturopathic work, where different areas of knowledge and complementary therapeutic techniques can be combined according to the individual.
VITO therapy: A manual approach with a different perspective
Among the therapeutic approaches known and used at PraNaturas is the VITO Natural Healing Method (Naravno zdravljenje Vito), a specific form of manual therapy.
Matijas Slivnik, naturopath and founder of PraNaturas, received intensive training in the VITO method more than ten years ago and also worked as a therapist using this approach.
According to PraNaturas, this manual therapeutic approach involves working with the musculoskeletal system, muscles, fascia, and connective tissue. It also considers the nervous system, acupressure points, and other connections within the body.
The purpose of this approach is to support the body's balance and function, with nervous system regulation considered an important part of the process.
An important principle of the method is looking for the broader context behind a problem. During a manual therapy session, the practitioner therefore does not necessarily focus only on the area where a person feels pain. Instead, they may also consider broader bodily relationships that could be relevant to the individual's overall wellbeing.
This is one reason the approach may interest people dealing with long-term or recurring difficulties and looking for a complementary therapeutic approach.
Many people seek therapy after struggling to find an approach that works for them. Some report having been referred from one specialist to another without finding a satisfactory solution.
At PraNaturas, however, the team emphasises that there is no magic wand. Every doctor and therapist does what they can within their knowledge, professional scope and the healthcare system in which they work.
At the same time, they believe continued learning, investigation, and a deeper understanding of an individual's health challenges can sometimes reveal connections and possible contributing factors that may otherwise be overlooked.
From spinal and joint problems to digestive issues: Chronic fatigue and burnout
At PraNaturas, practitioners encounter a wide variety of health-related challenges. Among the more common concerns are chronic musculoskeletal pain, spinal and joint problems, digestive difficulties, chronic fatigue, exhaustion and burnout.
For some people, pain is the primary concern. For others, the greatest challenge is low energy. A person may, for example, wake up feeling exhausted despite having spent enough hours in bed. During the day, they may struggle to maintain concentration, while in the evening they are too depleted to engage in activities that once felt effortless.
Others describe shallow breathing, internal tension or disrupted sleep. Then there are digestive problems, which can be particularly frustrating because they may affect everyday comfort, energy levels and mood.
In situations like these, it can be valuable to look beyond a single complaint. A holistic approach also asks a broader question.
"What is happening in this person's life as a whole?"
This is where a naturopathic assessment can provide a different perspective by considering multiple aspects of an individual's lifestyle, habits and wellbeing rather than viewing every symptom in isolation.
A story that connected sport, life experience and manual therapy
According to Matijas Slivnik, founder of PraNaturas, Vitomir Ravnikar developed the VITO Natural Healing Method by drawing on his own life and health experiences.
His life journey was diverse, ranging from sport and entrepreneurship to exploring different approaches related to health and wellbeing. His personal experience with serious cardiovascular health challenges also had an important influence on the direction of his life and on the development of his method.
Slivnik also emphasises how meaningful it was for him to have been part of the VITO Natural Healing team, where he had the opportunity to work as a therapist using this proprietary manual therapy method and to learn directly from its creator, Vitomir Ravnikar.
That experience of working and learning within the method became an important foundation for his subsequent professional and therapeutic development at PraNaturas.
Thirteen years of therapeutic work are, above all, about people's stories
Today, PraNaturas Naturopathy is entering its 13th year of therapeutic work. Over that time, thousands of different stories, life circumstances, and health-related challenges have crossed its path.
Every person arrives with a different story. One person may come with back pain that has persisted for years. Another may struggle with recurring digestive problems. Someone else may feel that after years of maintaining a relentless pace of life, they simply have no energy left. That is why it is difficult to speak about one universal therapy or a single path to better wellbeing.
“Throughout all these years, I have learned above all that it is important to truly listen to a person. The problem they come to therapy with is often only one part of a much broader story.” – Matijas Slivnik
Manual therapy as part of a broader naturopathic approach
At PraNaturas, the VITO method is not presented as a standalone miracle solution. Rather, it is regarded as one of several complementary therapeutic approaches that may be incorporated into a broader individual assessment and treatment plan.
This is important because different people may benefit from different approaches. One person may primarily need support with musculoskeletal concerns. Another may be dealing with long-term exhaustion. Someone else may need to better understand the relationship between lifestyle, stress, sleep, nutrition and overall wellbeing.
PraNaturas therefore builds its work around a combination of traditional and clinical naturopathy, incorporating complementary approaches such as manual techniques, including myofascial therapy and deep tissue massage, breathing techniques, ear acupuncture with seed application (auriculotherapy), therapeutic conversation, frequency-based approaches, nutritional guidance, healthy lifestyle counselling and other complementary methods.
The specific approach is adapted to the individual and their needs. This individualised philosophy is at the heart of the PraNaturas naturopathic method. Rather than looking at the body as a collection of separate symptoms, practitioners aim to consider the person as a whole.
When the body speaks, it is worth listening
Perhaps this is the most important message behind a holistic approach. Pain, fatigue, digestive problems or poor sleep are not necessarily something we should simply learn to endure. At the same time, it is not always necessary to search for one single solution to every problem.
Sometimes the first step is simply to stop, take a step back, look at the bigger picture and begin paying closer attention to the signals the body is sending.
At PraNaturas, this means an individualised, gradual and non-invasive approach, combined with knowledge gathered through more than a decade of therapeutic practice.
Perhaps this is where experience has its greatest value–not in promising one solution for everyone, but in understanding that every person has a unique story.
Manual therapy based on the VITO Natural Healing Method can be one part of that story. It is a complementary therapeutic approach that, over the years, has become part of PraNaturas' broader philosophy.
At its core, that philosophy is simple. To understand the individual as a whole and to support them in finding their own path toward better wellbeing and health.
Read more from Matijas Slivnik
Matijas Slivnik, Naturopath, Therapist, Musician
Matijas Slivnik is a naturopath specializing in burnout, hormonal balance, and chronic fatigue. With over 12 years of experience, he combines natural medicine, energy healing, and psychotherapeutic modalities to support holistic health. As an experienced musician, he uses music and healing sounds to enhance healing. Matijas is the founder of PraNaturas and helps clients restore energy and balance naturally.
