Paula Garbourg (1907 – 2004), the founder and developer of the Ring Muscle Method, was born in Hamburg Germany and grew up in Berlin. In her youth, she studied classical ballet, the piano and singing. When the Nazis came to power, she immigrated with her family to Israel, and lived in Tel Aviv. In the 1940s, she married Joseph and has two children – David and Ilana.
At the age of 35 she was diagnosed with an illness that doctors said would confine her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Paula, an intelligent, determined and creative woman, decided that she would not give up and surrender to pain and illness. She remembered the feeling she had when standing on the tips of her toes during singing lessons, when she studied in Berlin. She began to try different movements, some of them familiar to her from her studies, and some institutive.
Gradually, she noticed that the exercises she did gave her internal support that reduced her pain. One movement led to another, and Paula began to wonder and study the connections between the various muscles, and especially between the ring muscles and the entire body. She felt that she was beginning to discover a systematic regularity which she continued to investigate and develop. Drawing on her amazingly strong willpower and desire to help herself recover, she exercised and practiced her discoveries for hours on end, and succeeded in reducing her pain and finally, in making a full recovery. She felt she has “discovered” something!
And so, the Paula Method was born…
Paula related to orthopedist Dr. Pulvermacher, with whom she studied massage and anatomy, her success in healing herself using the special exercises she devised. Dr. Pulvermacher was impressed by Paula’s story, and decided to examine the impact of the exercises she devised on other patients, and asked Paula to treat patients in his clinic, under his supervision. When he was convinced that the method she developed did indeed help in many cases of orthopedic problems, he encouraged her to begin to work independently.
For nearly fifty years Paula devoted her life to treating people. She viewed illness as a challenge and successfully treated numerous patients, of all ages, some of whom suffered from severe medical conditions. For many years she worked persistently to develop and establish the method, and trained and certified generations of therapists to continue her work. In 1982 she published her book The Secret of the Ring Muscles. Paula always viewed the medical establishment as partners. Physicians in various fields experienced and practiced the method themselves, others conducted long-term observations and studies of her work, and many referred their patients for treatment based on the method.
Paula was characterized by her curiosity, openness and a desire to help people. She continued to research, expand and refine her method for many years, applying it to more and more problems and conditions. She was total in her demands of herself, as well as of her patients. She was a strong and exacting woman, yet also soft, loving, humorous, quietly observing, giving space, respecting others, and most of all – respecting the body’s wisdom.
