About Michal
CTPM, LMT
Michal is a certified Paula Method practitioner. She works with people in person and online to help them take an active role in their healing process. Michal encourages the body to rebalance through gentle movement and relaxation exercises.
Hi, I’m Michal. I’m a bit of a rebel. I’m also an introvert. If I could, I would probably hide behind a book on the beach most of my life, with my husband and daughter next to me. I’m often critical and don’t like to follow the crowd. I make decisions based on what feels most pleasant and allows more freedom, regardless of what other people think. I like to bring order to chaos and look for the logic in everything. I’m very curious and, despite my natural shyness, I love talking to people and am usually fascinated by them. I guess what gets me out of my shell at the end of the day is my passion to help others live their lives more gently and with greater compassion for themselves.
I’m an Israeli (oh, this accent that embarrasses me but I can’t seem to get rid of). I was a special education teacher for 16 years until I moved to the United States in my mid-thirties. I live in West Palm Beach with my Israeli technology-obsessed husband, our American-born, bi-lingual, unschooled daughter and our six adorable pets (not sure yet which language they understand).
After the speedy unassisted home birth of my daughter, I found that my body refused to go back to its pre-pregnancy shape. I’m not talking extra weight here; I’m talking about people congratulating me for being pregnant again so soon after the first one! A year after the birth I still looked like I was six months pregnant.
At that time, I was looking for someone who could help me understand what was going on with my body, while doing my best to ignore the well-intended advice that it was only a matter of better diet and exercise. Living macrobiotically and exercising regularly, I knew that this wasn’t the issue. Then, I got the book “The Secret of the Ring Muscles” by Paula Garbourg and found my way to full recovery. With a phenomenal Paula Method teacher, not only did I heal the diastasis recti and pelvic floor weakness postpartum, I also got rid of the severe asthma that I’d had for 40 years.
The Paula method was the gentlest approach I’d ever experienced. It enabled me to fully trust my body’s ability to self-heal while allowing complete freedom and encouraging individuality, creativity and authenticity (my cup of tea, as you might imagine).
This is why I dedicated three years to becoming a certified Paula Method teacher. After my initial training, I went on to do advanced Paula Method training in childbirth education, pelvic floor dysfunction, back and postural issues, breathing dysfunctions, working with the elderly, working with babies and children, and helping people with special needs.
Today I continue to expand my professional knowledge and experience. Recently I have done advanced courses in women’s reproductive health, functional anatomy, and holistic vision education.
The Paula Method is a love story that has expanded my thinking and had an impact on nearly every area of my life. I have a feeling that if you try this gentle approach to movement and healing, the same could happen for you.
“Michal is a calm, confident and intelligent woman who shares her love, beliefs and personal experience with the Paula Method to her clients in an effort to introduce us to a new and comprehensive way to treat and understand our bodies."
“I have begun to feel my body’s subtle signals that I've been ignoring (or mislabeling) all my life. I cannot live without this method now that Michal has opened my mind to this practice.”
“I admire Michal so much that I moved from another state to study with her. She is extremely articulate, able to clearly explain why she suggests a certain movement, and she makes it vivid with symbols that inspire my own imagination. Michal is very sensitive and truly responsive to my slightest attempts. She is kind, considerate and a wonderful guide for me to discover my body.”
“Michal, thank YOU for insisting on training me! I avoided taking lessons until I experienced a crisis. And then, rather than take advantage of me, you made it possible for me to do regular training without too much stress. This is why I tell as many people as possible about not just the Paula Method, but about you specifically. You are a naturally brilliant facilitator, indeed the premier Paula Method teacher in the U.S.”
About the Paula Method
The Paula Method is a holistic approach to health that uses gentle exercises and movement to initiate self-healing and bring the body back to balance. It is so gentle and versatile that anyone can do it regardless of age or physical ability.
The method activates a special biological system of ring muscles (sphincters) in the body. These circular-shaped muscles (such as the eyes, mouth, urethra and anus) are inseparable from the work of every bodily system. Moreover, they are engaged in every action we perform in our daily lives, such as breathing eating, drinking, eliminating waste, sitting, standing, walking, climbing, lifting, pushing, singing and dancing. All these actions activate the sphincters.
Paula Garbourg, who developed this method, discovered that all the sphincters in the body are related and that each sphincter in the body supports the others. As a result, she realized that it was possible to heal an injured sphincter by activating a healthy one, even if they were very distant from one another and served different bodily systems. Paula developed a gentle exercise program to encourage the sphincters to heal, balance and perform at their optimal level in a pleasant and relaxing manner.
The Paula Method is beneficial for healing and treating many ailments that are connected directly or indirectly to the sphincters, including those that affect the pelvic floor (such as incontinence, organ prolapses, sexual dysfunctions and chronic pain), breathing (asthma), digestion (reflux, constipation and hemorrhoids), and posture. In addition, using Paula Method exercises as part of a rehabilitation program after surgery or an accident greatly enhances and speeds up the healing and recovery process.
“I have done Feldenkrais work, Yoga, Brain Gym and I have to say the Paula Method with its gentle movement and total freedom to let my body guide itself back to optimum health, has created the most profound effects from inside my skull, to my pelvic region, to standing on my legs, and improving my digestion.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised any longer, but still amazed at the natural responses to this work!”
“Amazing to see how more and more Paula exercises have come into my daily Qigong practice. Each Qigong movement is now informed and done through Paula direction. A fascinating process to watch.”
About Paula Garbourg
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 help herself heal had something in common – they activated the sphincters. This made her very curious about the relationship between these ring-shaped muscles and the other muscles and systems of the body. Her personal search for a cure, and her ability to heal her so-called incurable disease, was the source of the method she continued to develop and research for the rest of her life – the method of exercising the ring muscles: the “Paula Method”.
For nearly 50 years, Paula researched, developed and taught her method to patients of all ages who were suffering 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. She did this even for patients with the most severe conditions.
Before Paula died at the age of 97, she trained and certified generations of practitioners who shared her vision and now continue 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 that treat physical imbalances and chronic conditions.
“I've never been so impressed with a "method" as I am with the Paula Method. It weaves together everything I've learned in yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, Tai Chi, Qigong and every movement, meditation or inner practice and deepens them all. I'm even more impressed with the way Michal guides and teaches with such clarity, ease and open heart.”
“After 15 years of ballet training, sports training, martial arts training, and many years of yoga training, I consider Michal my first REAL body movement teacher. I will forever be grateful to Michal for bringing the Paula Method to the United States.”