Chelsie Chooses Vitality!

Chelsie Marshall is a Quality Control Engineer at FUJIFILM Electronic Materials in Mesa, Arizona. In 2021, she became a certified FiTour yoga trainer and quickly became a fan favorite yoga teacher in Mesa!

Her story is one of faith, patience, strength and resilience. Chelsie was born without a thyroid, and over the course of her lifetime suffered the consequences of inconsistent hormone levels, fatigue, reduced metabolism and other significant challenges stemming from congenital hypothyroidism.

Around 2018, she noticed some people in her life were growing concerned about her and her health. When she paused to evaluate things herself, she realized she was constantly tired, on edge, and overweight. At her heaviest, she was around 200 pounds. That same year she decided to make big changes.

“My body hurt, and because I was in pain, I was unhappy and apathetic a good majority of the time. I felt nauseated often due to my poor diet and consuming things that were inflammatory on a regular basis. I was not listening to the cues my body was giving me, and it showed in several aspects of my life.”

She could no longer stand being a victim of her circumstances, and big lifestyle adjustments followed. She began eating mostly clean, whole foods, doing yoga, and started working with her body instead of ‘on’ her body. This opened the door to much more freedom and creativity in her workouts and prevented burnout. She took time for her mental health by making self-care and self-compassion a daily practice through meditation, skin care, and having clear boundaries. Gradually, she noticed tangible progress and momentum. She felt more confident, and much less anxious, angry and critical.

Someone recently told her, “The Chelsie today is vastly different from the Chelsie a year ago." She carries that statement of encouragement as a marker of the commitment she made to herself to be healthier in all aspects.

Her dedication has been worthwhile and she’s not stopping!

The next goal of Chelsie’s is to get strong enough to do a yoga handstand!

“I've been practicing and I've fallen down a lot, but I've gotten good at picking myself back up to try again.”

Isn’t that all that really matters??

Chelsie, you are inspiring and unstoppable!

Thank you for sharing your amazing journey with us.

Be awesome,

Your Suitcase of Courage Team

P.S. Are you holding onto a story of your own we could share?? Let us know!