Chelsea Roff is the Founder and Director of Eat Breathe Thrive, a nonprofit organization working to prevent and help people recover from eating disorders. An internationally-recognized speaker and educator, she has been featured on many national media outlets including CNN, Good Morning America, and the Today Show.
An eating disorder survivor herself, Chelsea has an intimate understanding of depths of suffering involved in mental illness and the conditions needed to recover. She was in foster care as a young person and cycled in and out of mental health wards throughout her teens. At fifteen, Chelsea had a stroke as a result of severe anorexia. She was hospitalised for nearly eighteen months, before finally clawing her way back to life and achieving full recovery.
Chelsea’s vision in creating Eat Breathe Thrive was to ensure all people have access to the resources they need to recover, and thus are able to more meaningfully contribute to themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. Over the last ten years, her organization has helped people in over 42 countries on their path to recovery. The organisation’s programs have now been independently studied in four separate research studies, including two randomized controlled trials.
Chelsea is known for her inspiring and down-to-earth speaking style, and for weaving together profound personal experiences with cultural and scientific analysis to deliver deeply moving insights. Prior to entering the charitable sector, Chelsea worked as a researcher in psychoneuroimmunology studying the impact of yoga on conditions like HIV/AIDS and breast cancer. Her presentations span disciplines of psychology, anthropology, history, neuroscience, and sociology and can be tailored to diverse audiences of all backgrounds. She is available for talks, trainings, and seminars.
Talk Topics
From 58 Pounds to Thriving: Three Keys to Resilience
This talk weaves together an incredible personal story of overcoming adversity (anorexia, alcoholism, foster care) with practical tools for cultivating resilience, no matter how bad circumstances get.
#OccupyYouAreBeautiful: Loving Your Body From Within
TRAININGS
Eat Breathe Thrive Facilitator Training for College Professionals This intensive training teaches college professionals how to run a program that incorporates yoga, service, and community to help students cultivate a healthier relationship to food, body, and self. The Eat Breathe Thrive™ College Program is a six-week series, which integrates yoga, group-processing and service opportunities to support students in building a healthy relationship with food and improving body image. Led by Eat Breathe Thrive™ Certified Facilitators, the program is designed to seed small, community-based networks of support (“Thrive Tribes”) on college campuses to help students to help one another overcome food and body image challenges.
SEMINARS
Eat Breathe Thrive: Coming Home to the Body In this seminar, students learn how to use yoga-based practices for overcoming disordered eating and distorted body image on all ends of the spectrum. Students learn practical techniques for tracking hunger and fullness signals, practices for coping with difficult emotions, and overall how to create a sense of “home”in your their skin. Seminar includes group discussion, interactive exercises, movement and meditation.
VIDEOS
