APRUS Association: A Space to Practice, Not to Study

An interview with founders Manuela Ferrara and Fabrizio Giovannangeli of the association dedicated to Natural Wellness Disciplines

There is a subtle but important difference between learning a technique and truly knowing how to inhabit it with your own hands. That difference is where APRUS was born: an association dedicated to the Natural Wellness Disciplines (D.B.N., from the Italian Discipline Naturali del Benessere), founded by Manuela Ferrara and Fabrizio Giovannangeli.

APRUS is not a school, and it doesn't want to be. Its founders are clear from the start: the aim is not to train people from scratch, but to offer those who have already completed at least one course in massage techniques or D.B.N. a place for real, hands-on practice, with dedicated tutors, in a way that is safe, supervised and supported. A bridge between the theory studied in the classroom and the confidence that can only be built with your hands, session after session.

An association that grows together

Through socio-cultural activities, APRUS promotes the value of concepts linked to wellness, beauty, culture, art, sport and performance. But the heart of the project lies elsewhere: creating community, sharing and team spirit. Not courses to be followed passively, but a path where members support one another and grow together, building professional and technical skills in an atmosphere that promotes serenity and health.

APRUS's six activities

• group days for supervised practice

• thematic days with professional teachers

• outdoor experiential days

• participation in trade fairs and industry events

• participation in national and international championships

• support pathways leading to those same championships

Interview with the founders

Asked "who are you?", Odysseus would answer "Nobody": when you are nobody, the people in front of you don't bother raising barriers, the work is easier, and it's simpler to slip inside their personal armor and throw it wide open. But this is the age of identification, so let's leave Odysseus behind and turn to APRUS, an association created by Manuela Ferrara in collaboration with Fabrizio Giovannangeli.

Manuela, would you introduce yourself to our readers? Who are you, and what was your path in the world of massage and wellness disciplines before founding APRUS?

My name is Manuela Ferrara, and I am the president and founder of the APRUS Association. For about five years I have been training and working in the field of wellness disciplines and massage. My training ranges from more Eastern techniques to more Western ones. I created APRUS out of a desire to grow the culture of the D.B.N. disciplines, helping people understand the enormous potential they hold in terms of prevention and renewed wellbeing.

Fabrizio, the same question for you: who are you, and where does your connection to this field come from?

My name is Fabrizio Giovannangeli, and about thirty years ago I discovered the world of massage; I have never stopped working and training since, so that I can offer my clients an always up-to-date, high-performing service. I am the creator and founder of Accademia Emosoma, where we train massage therapists and wellness practitioners, and I also collaborate with other training organizations. My multidisciplinary background allows me to work with people on several levels: through massage techniques and counseling, I work with psycho-emotional somatizations affecting posture, and with prevention and reset of postural dysergonomias caused by osteoarticular conditions, through thermal therapy programs. And as I always say: I deal with what evidence conceals.

How did you meet, and what made you realize you could build something together?Fabrizio: Manuela took part in an Emosoma course, and I had the intuition that I was in front of an extraordinary person, a great soul with an immense heart and astonishing abilities. We began a journey together and, little by little, those qualities I had only sensed burst into full bloom and pushed us to create something that could help many other people bring out their own talents.

What led you to found APRUS, and what concrete need gave rise to the idea?

Aprus is the name of a beautiful Etruscan goddess of flora and flowering, so the very name we chose for our association says a lot about the spirit behind our activities. We look at people's talents as seeds waiting to sprout. Often we are unaware of how many talents lie unexpressed, waiting to be watered with conscious words and gestures. That is our task, and when we see them bloom and express all their beauty and potential, the joy is irrepressible.

You made it clear from the start that APRUS is not a school. What is missing, today, in a massage practitioner's path after training, that you felt the need to fill?

APRUS is not a school in the sense of an academy or a training school for massage techniques: it is a "house of life" (Per-ankh), as it would have been called in ancient Egypt, a place where emotions, truths, sharing and constructive dialogue are lived, all aimed at helping talents bloom. In recent years training schools have multiplied exponentially, but one thing is missing for practitioners once they are certified: the chance to practice in a safe, guided way. At APRUS this is exactly what we do: thematic group meetings, with tutors on site.

What is the spirit of the project?

To put as much culture as possible about the D.B.N. disciplines within everyone's reach, which we do by continually organizing workshops at affordable prices, open to all. To discover your talents it is important, if not essential, to have as many interpretive keys as possible, and our workshops serve exactly that purpose. We approach every possible topic with a scientific-holistic outlook, adding practice sessions as well.

You often speak of community and team spirit. Why does massage practice need a communal dimension to truly grow?

We strongly believe that community and group work are vital for the fast, healthy and lasting growth of hidden talents. In an era when television and smartphones tend to isolate people and minds, sharing and studying in a group can be genuine lifelines to hold on to, to resurface from the flattening we are drifting toward.

Looking ahead, what would you like APRUS to become in a few years?

A beautiful human and professional community, made up of people united by a common project, that nods to collective wellbeing in the broadest sense of the term.

Practice, so that talent can bloom

In the founders' words, talent is a seed and shared practice is the water that makes it sprout. It is an idea of growing together that resonates with the spirit of Italian Massage Contest: united by hands.

Interview conducted for our magazine. Special thanks to Manuela Ferrara and Fabrizio Giovannangeli for their willingness to participate and for the sincerity with which they shared their vision.