About Paula

As it is International Women’s Day, I would like to take the opportunity to write about a woman whose life and work have had a major impact on my life.

Paula Garbourg (1907–2004) was born in Germany. In her youth, she studied ballet, piano and singing. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, Paula and her family moved to Israel. At the age of 35 she was diagnosed with a degenerative disease; the doctors were pessimistic, her illness was considered incurable, and she was told she would have to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life... 

Paula decided to try to increase her physical abilities by exercising on her own. Relying on her knowledge of ballet and singing, she intuitively invented her own exercises and found that her health began to improve. She also realized that most of the exercises she was using to heal herself had something in common: they activated ring-shaped muscles that had the ability to contract and relax concentrically. These muscles are called ring muscles in Hebrew and are known as circular valves or sphincters in the medical world. This discovery made her curious about the relationship between these ring muscles and the other muscles and systems in the body. Her personal search for a cure, and her ability to heal her so-called incurable disease, was the basis of the method she developed over the course of her life. This method of exercising the ring muscles became known as the “Paula Method”.

For nearly 50 years, Paula used her method to treat patients of all ages who suffered from many different ailments and symptoms. Countless people were helped and healed by her method. Paula treated everyone as an individual and was able to instill the belief that the body has the power and ability to heal itself, even in clients with serious physical issues.

By the time of her death at the age of 97, Paula had trained and certified a great number of practitioners who shared her vision and continued to teach her method. In Israel, her method is supported and recommended by the medical establishment and is covered by all medical insurance policies. It has been extensively researched and found to be more effective than many other approaches to healing. You can learn more about the method in Paula’s book The Secret of the Ring Muscles.

Paula’s approach to healing fascinates and inspires me because it is unique and daring in our male-dominated world. She trusted the body’s ability to self-heal and gave her patients the confidence to do the same. In a gentle, feminine and humble way she encouraged people to put trust in their bodies and direct their own work without interrupting the process. I see her approach as similar to mothering. A Paula teacher observes her student’s work and encourages the process to continue like a mother watching her child beginning to walk, knowing she should not interfere with the miracle she is witnessing.

On this International Women’s Day, let us honor this curious, observant, and open-minded woman who revealed the miraculous healing power of the ring muscles and how they affect the rest of the body.