ZELINDA

Zelinda Yañez is the founder of Round Rock Yoga.

Zelinda began practicing yoga in California in 1999. She vividly remembers feeling nervous and intimidated during her first visits to the local yoga studio. The other students seemed so fit and so much more knowledgeable about yoga. Months later, she learned that among her classmates were the Stanford swimming team, and yoga was part of their training as they were preparing for the Olympics! Nevertheless, that experience later inspired her vision for Round Rock Yoga - a place where people with all kinds of bodies could feel comfortable and welcome.

Zelinda worked in engineering and marketing roles at HP and Dell for nearly 12 years, and during this time she was increasingly drawn to yoga. While working at Dell, Zelinda enrolled in a local 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training Program, where she began to learn that there is more to yoga than just the physical postures.

During a family trip to in India in 2007, Zelinda took a few lessons at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai, India. Krishnamacharya is considered to be one of the most influential yoga teachers of the 20th century, and KYM was founded in 1976 by Krishnamacharya’s son and long-time student, Desikachar, to continue his teachings.

This short exposure to the Krishnamacharya tradition showed Zelinda a completely different style of yoga than what is commonly practiced in the US. Krishnamacharya yoga is typically taught one on one and is completely customized to the needs of the student. She saw a lot of value in customizing yoga, and this concept influenced her teaching for the next several years.

In 2016, Zelinda was accepted to the 500 hour International Yoga Teacher Training Program at KYM. She was thrilled for the opportunity to learn in this tradition but also nervous about leaving her young children to spend months studying in India.

In August 2018, Zelinda graduated with her class, the only American in the group. She learned so much more than she expected, especially on the topics of Āsana, Philosophy, Ayurveda, and Prānāyāma (yoga breathing).

In July 2019, Zelinda returned to India for the 500+ hour International Yoga Therapist Training Program at KYM. After a program hiatus due to the pandemic, Zelinda graduated as a Yoga Therapist in 2023. As a Yoga Therapist, she creates customized programs to help individual students meet their health and wellness goals.

Zelinda is very consicous about the differences between American yoga and Indian yoga. She is honored to share the Krishnamacharya tradition and help make yoga accessible to people with all kinds of bodies.

In addition to teaching at Round Rock Yoga, Zelinda teaches students around the world through her YouTube channel, Yoga with Zelinda.