Hi! I'm Paula Billig, Certified Herbalist and Herbal Educator
About PaulaAn Herbalist and Wellness Educator with a diverse background, Paula holds a B.A. from Temple University in Human Biology, where she also earned her EMT certification. She has honed her understanding of our body's form and function teaching Reformer Pilates for over 12 years, and she polished her "public speaking skills" performing for a decade with an interactive Children's Theater.
Paula studied Herbalism with Maia Toll in Philadelphia, and was certified through her Sage School of Clinical Herbalism. She has also studied with Barefoot Botanicals in Doylestown PA, where she will be returning as an instructor in Autumn 2018. Additionally, Paula is presently completing the extensive Advanced Physiology for Herbalists course from Heartstone Herbal School. Currently, Paula teaches small group Herbal Wellness Workshops, and consults with private clients in North Wales and online. |
Paula's Herbal EducationPlaces I've Learned:
Places I've Taught:
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Why Do You Do This? (Or, Paula's Story)
The Long Version, for the Very Curious
Why herbal medicine?
The plants sing to me!
Why pilates?
It ensnared me, really by accident.
More, please!
I grew up with herbal medicine, because ‘conventional’ medicine wasn’t cutting it when my sister and I were both getting constant ear infections, and my mom chose a road less traveled to get us well.
That experience set up a dichotomy in my understanding- pharmaceuticals “do things” to your body (that’s not always a bad thing!) but the plants… they allow, or encourage, or stimulate something to happen in your body, but YOU still have to do it. Your body is in control of its healing process.
At some early point I made the connection that I could grow plants in the dirt and they were the same ones that I knew as capsules and tinctures, the same ones that could heal me!!
The plants sing to me!
Why pilates?
It ensnared me, really by accident.
More, please!
I grew up with herbal medicine, because ‘conventional’ medicine wasn’t cutting it when my sister and I were both getting constant ear infections, and my mom chose a road less traveled to get us well.
That experience set up a dichotomy in my understanding- pharmaceuticals “do things” to your body (that’s not always a bad thing!) but the plants… they allow, or encourage, or stimulate something to happen in your body, but YOU still have to do it. Your body is in control of its healing process.
At some early point I made the connection that I could grow plants in the dirt and they were the same ones that I knew as capsules and tinctures, the same ones that could heal me!!
I was hooked. I guess it’s fair to say that self-reliance has always appealed to me.
Then I went away to college in the big city, and was blindsided by a world who knew nothing of what I understood, nor did it care. I had no idea how my worldview could exist in this world, I had no idea what my place in it could be.
Those dreams and passions nurtured through my childhood slid farther and farther away as I attempted to survive out there- working on campus, taking summer jobs, learning how to write papers and take tests, graduating... but what to do with myself?
Enter Craigslist, and a yoga studio looking for an instructor and offering training. Sign me up! I interviewed, I was hired, and then the question was posed- would I teach pilates instead? Sure, I answered, what’s that? Within 18 months I bought the studio, and I became a pilates teacher and a business owner.
Fast-forward almost a decade. I took my fascination with anatomy and physiology (I’ve taken it at least 5 times since high school!) and “geeked out” over pilates. The way the body works is just amazing, and I LoveLoveLove being able to show someone why they hurt, and how to stop it. I LoveLoveLove teaching my clients to change their habits, their patterns, and to relieve their pain. Watching them get stronger, taller, nimble, confident is immensely satisfying.
And then suddenly, I found my herbs again. Maia Toll gave a workshop at a day-long Celebration of Herbs I was attending through a long series of happenstances. Then I attended a break out session she also led, and we got to make remedies to take home with us. I hadn’t made anything with the plants for so long. I was back, and Maia became my teacher.
I was gifted a year’s study with Maia, which changed my life. The gifter and I fell out shortly after, and I have never been able to thank her, despite our differences. I hope she reads this. Thank you. After 5 years I earned a certificate from Maia as a "certified wellness coach and herbal educator" and began making that education part of my professional life.
Although I never searched out pilates as a ‘career’ it was waiting for me, knowing that I needed it. The way a person walks towards me tells me so much about them now, so much more than most other people could ever see, so much more than I could have seen before this experience.
And listening to my clients tell me their stories over all these years has taught me to listen, to see patterns, to make connections, and to make simple suggestions that can have profound effects. I know now that guiding someone to discover for themselves what I could have told them in a sentence makes the discovery their own. Taking responsibility for their body is quite often a new experience, and it’s a powerful one. It’s yours, you can fix it. I’ll say that again- YOU CAN FIX YOU. And I can teach you how.
So, to answer your question, I do what I do because it's what I do. I love it and it's me.
Then I went away to college in the big city, and was blindsided by a world who knew nothing of what I understood, nor did it care. I had no idea how my worldview could exist in this world, I had no idea what my place in it could be.
Those dreams and passions nurtured through my childhood slid farther and farther away as I attempted to survive out there- working on campus, taking summer jobs, learning how to write papers and take tests, graduating... but what to do with myself?
Enter Craigslist, and a yoga studio looking for an instructor and offering training. Sign me up! I interviewed, I was hired, and then the question was posed- would I teach pilates instead? Sure, I answered, what’s that? Within 18 months I bought the studio, and I became a pilates teacher and a business owner.
Fast-forward almost a decade. I took my fascination with anatomy and physiology (I’ve taken it at least 5 times since high school!) and “geeked out” over pilates. The way the body works is just amazing, and I LoveLoveLove being able to show someone why they hurt, and how to stop it. I LoveLoveLove teaching my clients to change their habits, their patterns, and to relieve their pain. Watching them get stronger, taller, nimble, confident is immensely satisfying.
And then suddenly, I found my herbs again. Maia Toll gave a workshop at a day-long Celebration of Herbs I was attending through a long series of happenstances. Then I attended a break out session she also led, and we got to make remedies to take home with us. I hadn’t made anything with the plants for so long. I was back, and Maia became my teacher.
I was gifted a year’s study with Maia, which changed my life. The gifter and I fell out shortly after, and I have never been able to thank her, despite our differences. I hope she reads this. Thank you. After 5 years I earned a certificate from Maia as a "certified wellness coach and herbal educator" and began making that education part of my professional life.
Although I never searched out pilates as a ‘career’ it was waiting for me, knowing that I needed it. The way a person walks towards me tells me so much about them now, so much more than most other people could ever see, so much more than I could have seen before this experience.
And listening to my clients tell me their stories over all these years has taught me to listen, to see patterns, to make connections, and to make simple suggestions that can have profound effects. I know now that guiding someone to discover for themselves what I could have told them in a sentence makes the discovery their own. Taking responsibility for their body is quite often a new experience, and it’s a powerful one. It’s yours, you can fix it. I’ll say that again- YOU CAN FIX YOU. And I can teach you how.
So, to answer your question, I do what I do because it's what I do. I love it and it's me.
Teacher Sandwich with two amazing women, Maia Toll and Dory Ellen Fish!