MERCEDES BAHLEDA

Mercedes Bahleda is a yogini and artisit from New York City who has been studying Tibetan Buddhism for the last 10 years.

Born and raised a Christian, Mercedes was taken under the guidance of the sisters of Mount Saint Mary’s Covent in KenmoreNew York as a young girl.

 Mercedes studied Christian meditation with the sisters and was trained in the classical choirs until she moved to New York City at the age of 18.

An honors graduate of New YorkUniversity she went on to work as a professional actress, singer and dancer in theaters around the world for the next ten years.

Her theater company in New York “Big Dance” received the prestige Bessie award for performance in 1997.

In 1996 she met her Gurus, Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie Mercedes Bahleda is a yogini and artist from New York City and traveled to India with them to further her spiritual studies in 1999.

Under their direction she has completed studies of the great five books of the Buddhist monasteries and has completed six Tibetan Heart Yoga teacher trainings.

She has also done in-depth studies of the Yoga Sutras and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika scriptures.

She has also studied Yoga asana, Yogic & Buddhist Philosophy as well as Ancient music at the great monasteries and schools of India, Ladakh and the United States.

She has completed several deep solitary retreats in the Arizona desert.

Currently she teaches Tibetan Heart Yoga, Devotional Singing, Tibetan language and Christian meditation at DiamondMountainUniversity.

Mercedes dance performances can be viewed at the Lincoln center libraries and she recently completed the Tibetan Heart Yoga Chant album for the Yoga Studies Institute which will be released this spring.

Mercedes schedule and musical recordings can be accessed at www.songsofmercy.com