All applicants must submit an essay conforming to the following guidelines no later than 10 days prior to the date of the Advanced Certification Board Exam. The essay must meet all six guideline requirements in order to pass. The essay must be submitted to the Program Director by email by the deadline, but may be submitted earlier.

Format:

• No fewer than 500 words; no more than 1000 words. Essay must fit on one page; no exceptions

• Times New Roman, 11 point type, single spaced

• Your name on the top upper left of the page, followed by the title, sutra and translation/commentary (see these requirements below)

• The Program Director will reject any essays that do not meet format requirements (or the Sutra requirement below in paragraph 4) and in that event, you must have a revised version submitted by the deadline. The Program Director is not required to read your essay for content or to give comments on it other than regarding the formatting and Sutra requirements. If an essay is submitted at least 3 weeks prior to the date of the exam, the Program Director will inform you if your essay does not meet the format or Sutra requirements and give you an opportunity to submit a revised version, but if the essay is submitted less than 3 weeks prior to the exam, the Program Director may not have time to review the essay and inform you of any missing requirements; thus, you should submit your essay as early as possible. Please note: if you plan to travel to take the exam, it would be in your interest to submit your essay far enough in advance to enable the Program Director to review the formatting and inform you whether it is satisfactory before making your travel plans.

• Spelling/Grammar/Typographical Errors:
 Please check carefully for spelling and grammar before you submit. If the Board finds more than five misspellings or other obvious typographical errors that appear careless, the essay may be rejected.

• Theme:
 The essay must have a theme and a title on the top of the page which reflects that theme.

• Sutra or Mantra:
 To reinforce the theme, the essay must include a reference to any sutra, shloka, verse, chant, song or mantra found in the Jivamukti Yoga chant book and must include the exact translation/commentary found in the Jivamukti Yoga chant book.

• Personal Insight: 
The essay must include an original idea, drawn from the writer’s personal insight, which acts as a commentary or interpretation of the sutra, shloka, verse, chant, song or mantra reference.

• Practical Application: 
The essay must include a description of a practice (asana, pranayama, etc.), related to the theme of the essay, which could be taught in a classroom setting.

• Understanding of the Jivamukti Yoga Methodology: The essay must show that the author has a deep understanding of the Jivamukti Yoga methodology and its teachings. It can of course include personal interpretations of those teachings but it must show a connection to the lineage of Jivamukti Yoga.

• Checklist:
 You must include a checklist at the bottom of your essay showing that your FORMAT, THEME, SUTRA, PERSONAL INSIGHT, UNDERSTANDING OF METHOD and PRACTICAL APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS are covered. You must include a word count for your essay. Please indicate in which paragraphs these requirements appear. Be very specific as per example below:

PERSONAL INSIGHT: paragraph #4, line #6; paragraph #5, line #2 
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: paragraph #8, lines #2, 3, 4 and 5

500€ 

Fees should be collected at the time of registration in order for the applicant to reserve a space on the board’s schedule.

A two part examination. There will be a practical exam to test your teaching skills and asana knowledge, and a written exam. The entire examination process should take around two hours.

Tight-fitting shorts or leggings  and a tight-fitting sleeveless top, that allows the board to  examine the activity of arms and legs. You will not be allowed to take the exam without proper attire.

A post-exam review will be held. The results of the Board Exam will be available for you prior to the start of the review. The review will be facilitated by the Program Director and all Board Members. Although this review is not mandatory it is offered to everyone who took the Advanced Board Exam and it is highly recommended that you attend. If you want to attend, you must show up at least 10 minutes before the review starts. At the review all portions of the exam, including the written test, essay and asana and teaching practicals, will be gone over in detail.

Please note: Because neither the Program Director nor any Board members will be available for private consultation after the exam, this is your only opportunity to get feedback of any kind regarding your performance on the exam and for you to ask any questions or raise any concerns regarding your exam. Neither the Program Director nor the Board Members will be available to discuss individual exams after this review session. If you cannot attend this review, you will be notified as to whether you pass or not by email, but without any further explanation. You must wear practice attire and bring a yoga mat to the Post Exam Review.

If you do not pass this exam, you may apply to re-take the exam at the next available opportunity when offered at any Jivamukti Yoga® School or Center. You will be required to submit a new essay and pay the full examination fee at that time.