with Paul Fox

Course Tutors

Lead Tutor - Paul Fox

Paul has been practicing and teaching yoga for
more than ten years. In 1999 he was awarded
the BWY Teaching Diploma, and in 2005 he
completed a two year Ashtanga Yoga teacher training with John & Lucy Scott, anatomy teacher David Keil and yoga philosophy teacher, Swami Nityamuktananda. Paul has completed over 1,000 hours of further yoga studies with leading teachers in many of the approaches to yoga, including Iyengar, Sivananda, Satyananda and Viniyoga. Since 2006 Paul has been a BWY DCT, teaching the BWY’s 500 teacher training course. He also runs training days for yoga teachers, specializing in anatomy and physiology, adjusting students in postures, ashtanga vinyasa yoga and core strength yoga.

Paul wrote national radio news for the BBC for 15 years and regularly writes about yoga for Yoga Magazine and the BWY quarterly journal, Spectrum. His is a member of the BWY’s Education Committee as the National In-Service Training Officer. Paul is currently studying for the PGCE in the post-compulsory sector which will give him Qualified Teaching Status (QTLS) in the Lifelong Learning and Skills Sector. This training feeds through into the methodical, clear, creative and professional way that this course is organised and presented.

The following tutors are used by Core Strength Yoga and may teach elements of the course.

Anatomy and Physiology Tutor - Dr Ruth Gilmore Phd

Ruth was a full-time lecturer at the Queen's University of Belfast for many years, first in Physiology and then in Anatomy. She took early retirement in order to devote more time to yoga.  Ruth has worked for over a decade with the Yoga Biomedical Trust (YBT) at the Yoga Therapy Centre in Islington, London, and for several years with the Life Centre, London (LC). She is responsible for Anatomy and Physiology tuition on the YBT/LC's revised fully modular Yoga Therapy Diploma course, one of the world's leading yoga therapy training programmes. Ruth is well known to BWY members through her in-service training days, and lectures at DCT weekend and Congress.

Philosophy Tutor – Audrey Smith

Audrey is a BWY approved tutor and Svaroopa Yoga teacher, who has made a special study of Ayurveda and Patanjali’s sutras. Audrey is American and has been teaching yoga for more than ten years. She trained for more than 500 hours in Svaroopa yoga in California. Svaroopa yoga is a gentle, restorative approach to hatha yoga that works on releasing  the spine using held postures, blocks, blankets and belts. Audrey is also qualified in Pranassage, Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda. She  has taught Svaroopa Yoga, the sutras and ayurveda at one-day workshops and to BWY student teachers and is a gifted teacher and communicator.

Core Strength Tutor - Karen Hodgkin

Karen owns and run The Pilates Studio in Taunton, which opened in 2000. After a career as a professional ballet dancer she trained and qualified to teach Pilates with Alan Herdman in London. Alan introduced Pilates into the UK over 30 years ago after studying in New York with a teacher personally trained by Joseph Pilates. He is the UK's number one Pilates expert with studios all over the world. Karen is a yoga practitioner, attending a weekly Ashtanga Yoga class and working with a range of teachers who hold classes at The Yoga Space, which is part of the Pilates Studio. Karen has a wealth of knowledge about anatomy and physiology and core strength. She will teach the principles, practice and theory of core strength work and the way that some of the mat work techniques from pilates can be used by yoga teachers to encourage students to work safely with strong support for the body from the core.

Lifestyle and Nutrition Tutor – Susannah Hartnoll

Susie has a degree in Physiology from Leeds University and is a qualified yoga teacher, massage therapist and bodyworker. She is currently completing the second year of a three year course in holistic cooking and macrobiotics at the Holistic Cooking School at Totness run by Oliver Cowmeadow and Marijke – the leading exponents of macrobiotic cooking, counseling and lifestyle in the UK. Susie is also studying western nutrition via distance learning with a view to achieving a masters degree in nutritional therapy.

First Aid Tutor – Sandra Kirkham

Sandra is a state registered nurse, BWY tutor and member of the BWY’s Executive Committee. She will be teaching first aid and practical skills for dealing with students who present in class with a range of common ailments.