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The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self
Discover the evolutionary mind and body benefits of living at the edges of your comfort zone and reconnecting with the wild. In many ways, we’re more comfortable than ever before.
But could our sheltered, temperature-controlled, overfed, underchallenged lives actually be the leading cause of many our most urgent physical and mental health issues? In this gripping investigation, award-winning journalist Michael Easter seeks out off-the-grid visionaries, disruptive genius researchers, and mind-body conditioning trailblazers who are unlocking the life-enhancing secrets of a counterintuitive solution: discomfort.
Easter’s journey to understand our evolutionary need to be challenged takes him to meet the NBA’s top exercise scientist, who uses an ancient Japanese practice to build championship athletes; to the mystical country of Bhutan, where an Oxford economist and Buddhist leader are showing the world what death can teach us about happiness; to the outdoor lab of a young neuroscientist who’s found that nature tests our physical and mental endurance in ways that expand creativity while taming burnout and anxiety; to the remote Alaskan backcountry on a demanding thirty-three-day hunting expedition to experience the rewilding secrets of one of the last rugged places on Earth; and more.
Along the way, Easter uncovers a blueprint for leveraging the power of discomfort that will dramatically improve our health and happiness, and perhaps even help us understand what it means to be human. The Comfort Crisis is a bold call to break out of your comfort zone and explore the wild within yourself.
But could our sheltered, temperature-controlled, overfed, underchallenged lives actually be the leading cause of many our most urgent physical and mental health issues? In this gripping investigation, award-winning journalist Michael Easter seeks out off-the-grid visionaries, disruptive genius researchers, and mind-body conditioning trailblazers who are unlocking the life-enhancing secrets of a counterintuitive solution: discomfort.
Easter’s journey to understand our evolutionary need to be challenged takes him to meet the NBA’s top exercise scientist, who uses an ancient Japanese practice to build championship athletes; to the mystical country of Bhutan, where an Oxford economist and Buddhist leader are showing the world what death can teach us about happiness; to the outdoor lab of a young neuroscientist who’s found that nature tests our physical and mental endurance in ways that expand creativity while taming burnout and anxiety; to the remote Alaskan backcountry on a demanding thirty-three-day hunting expedition to experience the rewilding secrets of one of the last rugged places on Earth; and more.
Along the way, Easter uncovers a blueprint for leveraging the power of discomfort that will dramatically improve our health and happiness, and perhaps even help us understand what it means to be human. The Comfort Crisis is a bold call to break out of your comfort zone and explore the wild within yourself.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 11, 2021
4567 people are currently reading
60415 people want to read
About the author
Michael Easter
8 books561 followersMichael Easter is the author of The Comfort Crisis, a contributing editor at Men’s Health magazine, columnist for Outside magazine, and professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). His work has appeared in over sixty countries and can also be found in Men’s Journal, New York, Vice, Scientific American, Esquire, and others. He lives in Las Vegas on the edge of the desert with his wife and two dogs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,908 reviews
June 26, 2021
What I got from it:
Main idea:
1. We spend a great amount of our modern lives completely comfortable. We live in the most optimal temperatures, we eat whenever we feel slightly hungry, and sit in soft chairs most of the day. We live our lives in a tiny circle of routine, rather than explore the boundaries of our potential. The author supports that a part of depression may be the result of never testing yourself.
It's important to have "missoge's" which are internal challenges that push your limits. A missoge should be something that you have a 50% chance of achieving. The missoge should be for yourself, not to be shared over social media. What the missoge is depends on your experience level. For example, a strong runner may set the goal of running a marathon without much training, or a hiker may set the challenge of climbing kiliminjaro, or a hunter may try and hunt alone in the alaskan outback. The task needs to make you uncomfortable.
2. Remind yourself "mee-tak-huh" a phrase meaning "no permanent." All the anger we feel, the stress, the problems, the discomfort, and the joy is all not permanent. It's important to recognize this a few times a day. If we don't acknowledge it then we are walking towards a cliff, but pretending it's not there.
Sub-points form the book:
3. Weight gain is generally not linear, but rather has maintenance periods then sudden spikes. For example, over 10 years we will have periods of maintaining weight then have sudden increases (ie during stressful times, holidays/winter) then we maintain our new higher weight and repeat the cycle.
4. Important to have periods of not eating (ie intermittent fasting) to facilitate cell recycling.
5. We constantly want more things (ie if have 10 books we want an 11th).
6. Important to spend time in nature (ie 5h a month). The quiet is important to reset the mind. Even the act of listening to nature sounds can reduce stress. People are happier in nature.
7. Set a goal to either be physically fitter or learn something new every day.
Main idea:
1. We spend a great amount of our modern lives completely comfortable. We live in the most optimal temperatures, we eat whenever we feel slightly hungry, and sit in soft chairs most of the day. We live our lives in a tiny circle of routine, rather than explore the boundaries of our potential. The author supports that a part of depression may be the result of never testing yourself.
It's important to have "missoge's" which are internal challenges that push your limits. A missoge should be something that you have a 50% chance of achieving. The missoge should be for yourself, not to be shared over social media. What the missoge is depends on your experience level. For example, a strong runner may set the goal of running a marathon without much training, or a hiker may set the challenge of climbing kiliminjaro, or a hunter may try and hunt alone in the alaskan outback. The task needs to make you uncomfortable.
2. Remind yourself "mee-tak-huh" a phrase meaning "no permanent." All the anger we feel, the stress, the problems, the discomfort, and the joy is all not permanent. It's important to recognize this a few times a day. If we don't acknowledge it then we are walking towards a cliff, but pretending it's not there.
Sub-points form the book:
3. Weight gain is generally not linear, but rather has maintenance periods then sudden spikes. For example, over 10 years we will have periods of maintaining weight then have sudden increases (ie during stressful times, holidays/winter) then we maintain our new higher weight and repeat the cycle.
4. Important to have periods of not eating (ie intermittent fasting) to facilitate cell recycling.
5. We constantly want more things (ie if have 10 books we want an 11th).
6. Important to spend time in nature (ie 5h a month). The quiet is important to reset the mind. Even the act of listening to nature sounds can reduce stress. People are happier in nature.
7. Set a goal to either be physically fitter or learn something new every day.
September 9, 2021
20% in and ugh, this book is pushing me to my edge. Which is an interesting conundrum, because the author isn't really interested in any discomfort that's not Boy Scout adjacent. And I don't mean running or helping with a scout troop, actually being responsible for making sure your kids don't die when they're learning to canoe, camping in 40 degree weather, or hiking fourteeners -- no, only the kid perspective, where you don't understand that your life is actually in danger because your mental walls of the world consist of the backs of the adults protecting you.
I was on-board for a Born to Run, Into the Wild, or Into Thin Air, or even The Wild Trees. But right now my suspension of disbelief has been smashed by a series of really avoidable errors that shouldn't have passed fact checking:
1.) There are no "ancient aikido" students. Aikido started in 1920, by Morihei Ueshiba. He died in 1969. His first generation students are still around.
2.) Misogi -- it means "cold water". Bathing in cold water is a Shinto prayer ritual. You've adopted a Japanese word you don't understand and are using it in place of fine English phrases like "baptism", "harrowing", or "boss battle".
3.) Misogyny -- Specifically calling "helicopter parenting" an overblown response to normal rates of kidnappings is deeply misogynistic on at least 2 fronts. First, kidnappings happen disproportionately to females under 21, as recorded in the crime statistics. (And these are under-counted by law enforcement as evidenced by the crisis of abducted Native American girls and women.) Second, shaming the people who have the time and inclination to be involved in their children's lives. This doesn't have to be a gendered slam, but it is because it is set in the context of moms who let their children be "free range".
So far the book seems to be a whole lotta words to justify taking thousands of dollars from the family budget and leaving the kids with your wife (and her parents and church?) so you can go moose hunting in the Alaskan wild. At least Chris McCandless didn't have people depending on his income.
The aikido thing is also very illuminating. Ueshiba started adapting jujitsu into the non-aggresive martial art of Aikido because the young men of his class were being trained for wars that no longer existed. It was part of their identity and Ueshiba foresaw an identity crisis on the horizon. He started teaching that you could still be tough and strong without beating up other people. The Japanese Buddhism teachers that made their way to the US after World War II have the same idea at their heart. You do not have to go somewhere to do something epic, you can do it by serving your community. You do not have to do something epic to wake up, you just have to build your capacity to see the world where you are in all its truth. You can wake up by taking care -- of your family and community.
Easter laments that his Eagle Scout project had no risk of failure. I wonder if he understands that most scouts fail before they are eligible to go for Eagle Scout? I wonder if he understands that in most places where Scouting would benefit kids there is no Scouting, because there aren't parents willing to brave the failures involved in running a Scout troop?
I was on-board for a Born to Run, Into the Wild, or Into Thin Air, or even The Wild Trees. But right now my suspension of disbelief has been smashed by a series of really avoidable errors that shouldn't have passed fact checking:
1.) There are no "ancient aikido" students. Aikido started in 1920, by Morihei Ueshiba. He died in 1969. His first generation students are still around.
2.) Misogi -- it means "cold water". Bathing in cold water is a Shinto prayer ritual. You've adopted a Japanese word you don't understand and are using it in place of fine English phrases like "baptism", "harrowing", or "boss battle".
3.) Misogyny -- Specifically calling "helicopter parenting" an overblown response to normal rates of kidnappings is deeply misogynistic on at least 2 fronts. First, kidnappings happen disproportionately to females under 21, as recorded in the crime statistics. (And these are under-counted by law enforcement as evidenced by the crisis of abducted Native American girls and women.) Second, shaming the people who have the time and inclination to be involved in their children's lives. This doesn't have to be a gendered slam, but it is because it is set in the context of moms who let their children be "free range".
So far the book seems to be a whole lotta words to justify taking thousands of dollars from the family budget and leaving the kids with your wife (and her parents and church?) so you can go moose hunting in the Alaskan wild. At least Chris McCandless didn't have people depending on his income.
The aikido thing is also very illuminating. Ueshiba started adapting jujitsu into the non-aggresive martial art of Aikido because the young men of his class were being trained for wars that no longer existed. It was part of their identity and Ueshiba foresaw an identity crisis on the horizon. He started teaching that you could still be tough and strong without beating up other people. The Japanese Buddhism teachers that made their way to the US after World War II have the same idea at their heart. You do not have to go somewhere to do something epic, you can do it by serving your community. You do not have to do something epic to wake up, you just have to build your capacity to see the world where you are in all its truth. You can wake up by taking care -- of your family and community.
Easter laments that his Eagle Scout project had no risk of failure. I wonder if he understands that most scouts fail before they are eligible to go for Eagle Scout? I wonder if he understands that in most places where Scouting would benefit kids there is no Scouting, because there aren't parents willing to brave the failures involved in running a Scout troop?
September 1, 2021
This reads like David Goggins propaganda, or like it was written by someone who'd seriously consider electing Joe Rogan for president. I agree with the basic premise, ie, that we ought to get outside more and push past our overly-cushioned modern, Western lives. Yet, I think Easter takes this too far. I will say that I enjoyed his discussion with the food guy, but that was pretty much the only part I liked.
First, a caveat: I read this directly after The Alignment Problem, which is like trying to compare a candle to a floodlight. I had many other problems with this book, which I'll try to be brief with below.
The first is the overall structure of the book—Easter jolts between telling his story of a month-long hunting trip into Alaska with the stories of interviews and research he wants to talk about. The integration was very poor. Additionally, the prose felt like a middle schooler had just discovered what a thesaurus was. It was the opposite of eloquent or tactful use of schmancy words. Next, I think Easter ought to stick to writing for magazines. He flailed with the longer structure of a story, and often felt aimless. Fourth, he cherry-picked research, made some poor interpretations, and grossly overlooked other relevant topics. (4i) Harps on a lot of "good for you" diets, but doesn't talk about how the French (high fat/butter diet) still have very low rates of heart disease etc (this is just one example, to spare you from the many other examples). (4ii) How are you going to blame smartphones for so many modern problems, when one of the main studies that you cite talks about how a creativity test shows a "nosedive" starting in 1990 (page 105), wayyy before smartphones or even the ubiquity of the internet?? (4iii) He only hastily put in some comments (in the epilogue) about the microbiome, which I think it wildly important. Additionally, he drastically downplays the scientific consesus of the benefits of mindfullness. To be fair, the guy self-described his mind as a "category 5 hurricane" (page 196). Finally, Easter cannot see through his own brainwashed biases, case in point: he argues that hunting is not unethical, against those who use the appeal to nature fallacy, defined as "the belief, argument, or rhetorical tactic that proposes that anything "natural" is good, harmonious, and morally correct" (page 210). Is this guy's whole book not a fallacious appeal to nature? I'll rest my case.
I am reviewing The Comfort Crisis from a place of privilege, which I acknowledge. My mind is not a hurricane, I meditate everyday, I run almost everyday, I walk/"ruck" to work everyday (this concept I actually kind of like, if we're being honest), I keep my house cold in the winter etc. So I'm already doing a lot of these things, but I don't think one needs to be so extreme to say that going on a month-long trip into the arctic to hunt is the path to enlightenment. Probably just meditate, eat more veggies, get outside most days, and do some exercise and you'll likely be fine.
First, a caveat: I read this directly after The Alignment Problem, which is like trying to compare a candle to a floodlight. I had many other problems with this book, which I'll try to be brief with below.
The first is the overall structure of the book—Easter jolts between telling his story of a month-long hunting trip into Alaska with the stories of interviews and research he wants to talk about. The integration was very poor. Additionally, the prose felt like a middle schooler had just discovered what a thesaurus was. It was the opposite of eloquent or tactful use of schmancy words. Next, I think Easter ought to stick to writing for magazines. He flailed with the longer structure of a story, and often felt aimless. Fourth, he cherry-picked research, made some poor interpretations, and grossly overlooked other relevant topics. (4i) Harps on a lot of "good for you" diets, but doesn't talk about how the French (high fat/butter diet) still have very low rates of heart disease etc (this is just one example, to spare you from the many other examples). (4ii) How are you going to blame smartphones for so many modern problems, when one of the main studies that you cite talks about how a creativity test shows a "nosedive" starting in 1990 (page 105), wayyy before smartphones or even the ubiquity of the internet?? (4iii) He only hastily put in some comments (in the epilogue) about the microbiome, which I think it wildly important. Additionally, he drastically downplays the scientific consesus of the benefits of mindfullness. To be fair, the guy self-described his mind as a "category 5 hurricane" (page 196). Finally, Easter cannot see through his own brainwashed biases, case in point: he argues that hunting is not unethical, against those who use the appeal to nature fallacy, defined as "the belief, argument, or rhetorical tactic that proposes that anything "natural" is good, harmonious, and morally correct" (page 210). Is this guy's whole book not a fallacious appeal to nature? I'll rest my case.
I am reviewing The Comfort Crisis from a place of privilege, which I acknowledge. My mind is not a hurricane, I meditate everyday, I run almost everyday, I walk/"ruck" to work everyday (this concept I actually kind of like, if we're being honest), I keep my house cold in the winter etc. So I'm already doing a lot of these things, but I don't think one needs to be so extreme to say that going on a month-long trip into the arctic to hunt is the path to enlightenment. Probably just meditate, eat more veggies, get outside most days, and do some exercise and you'll likely be fine.
December 15, 2021
Would give this book 0 stars if I could. Such a colossal waste of time– a wealthy white man struggling with his boredom in a privileged environment so much that he has so pay to have someone guide him in feeling something. Michael uses his generalized personal experience to justify classist and prejudiced tone-deaf rants that are a poor excuse for 'journalism'.
Michael– want to feel uncomfortable for once in your life? Go outside wearing a dress or live as a homeless individual for more than 24 hours. There was so many times I was convinced this was satire... does he truly not understand the irony in what he is preaching?
The privilege and bigotry disguised as philosophical musings is uncritical, underdeveloped, juvenile, nauseating and infuriating that I definably lost a few brain cells trying to read pathetic excuse for 'journalism'. Laughable.
Michael– want to feel uncomfortable for once in your life? Go outside wearing a dress or live as a homeless individual for more than 24 hours. There was so many times I was convinced this was satire... does he truly not understand the irony in what he is preaching?
The privilege and bigotry disguised as philosophical musings is uncritical, underdeveloped, juvenile, nauseating and infuriating that I definably lost a few brain cells trying to read pathetic excuse for 'journalism'. Laughable.
January 11, 2022
The crazy thing is that I actually really like and agree with the main concept of this book.
So why am I rating 2 stars? Something that irritates me with these types of journalistic books is that the author spends so much time describing their own journey into the research - which I could NOT care less about and it takes up most of the book content. I couldn’t have been less interested in this guys conversations with random people or arctic adventure (arctic adventure sounds interesting but his wasn’t at all. It was basically him walking around with a bunch of old dudes and occasionally hunting). I really just want to hear about the research and facts. I also didn’t really like how he described calorie counting as the best way to lose weight. Is that a wrong opinion? No - I just didn’t think it fit into the purpose and content of the rest of the book which is about being uncomfortable. He went into the nutritional density of food and all of this other information that didn’t pertain to his thesis. Allowing yourself to be hungry is one thing, but then to say calorie counting is the best way to eat? Doesn’t really correlate to me.
But I actually agree with a lot of things he discussed and I definitely feel more inspired to get outside more and adventure more. I also want to buy a ruck sack now so there’s that too.
So why am I rating 2 stars? Something that irritates me with these types of journalistic books is that the author spends so much time describing their own journey into the research - which I could NOT care less about and it takes up most of the book content. I couldn’t have been less interested in this guys conversations with random people or arctic adventure (arctic adventure sounds interesting but his wasn’t at all. It was basically him walking around with a bunch of old dudes and occasionally hunting). I really just want to hear about the research and facts. I also didn’t really like how he described calorie counting as the best way to lose weight. Is that a wrong opinion? No - I just didn’t think it fit into the purpose and content of the rest of the book which is about being uncomfortable. He went into the nutritional density of food and all of this other information that didn’t pertain to his thesis. Allowing yourself to be hungry is one thing, but then to say calorie counting is the best way to eat? Doesn’t really correlate to me.
But I actually agree with a lot of things he discussed and I definitely feel more inspired to get outside more and adventure more. I also want to buy a ruck sack now so there’s that too.
May 20, 2021
I found this title but initially brushed it off. My profession as a strength and conditioning coach afforded me over four decades of exposure to this disappointing trend. What else can he tell me?
Then I read an article by Michael Easter on RUCKING from RUNNERS WORLD. I enjoyed his style of writing and decided to take the plunge with THE COMFORT CRISIS.
It's a well-known fact that while we are wired to eat and seek comfort we are equally wired up to avoid danger, risk and to minimize unnecessary movement (exercise).
Madison Avenue knows this well and markets products to capitalize on the slothfulness and gluttony.
Michael Easter presents a prescription to rewild ultimate comfort seekers. It's not going to be easy but it can be done.
Then I read an article by Michael Easter on RUCKING from RUNNERS WORLD. I enjoyed his style of writing and decided to take the plunge with THE COMFORT CRISIS.
It's a well-known fact that while we are wired to eat and seek comfort we are equally wired up to avoid danger, risk and to minimize unnecessary movement (exercise).
Madison Avenue knows this well and markets products to capitalize on the slothfulness and gluttony.
Michael Easter presents a prescription to rewild ultimate comfort seekers. It's not going to be easy but it can be done.
February 10, 2024
really good for the right person
4.5
4.5
July 7, 2021
This book is not what I expected it to be, based on the title. It's only tangentially about the benefits of discomfort. It's really about a former alcoholic going on a big hunting trip, with some commentary about how modern life is unhealthy. I'd say a better title would be "Getting back to life in nature...and how modern life is unhealthy". But even that wouldn't be entirely accurate. Not everyone's idea of getting back to nature means hunting. And not everyone's idea of being healthy means doing what Navy SEALS do (which is advocated in this book).
I'll give two accurate personality types that this book is for:
1) If you're the kind of person who does Crossfit, shaves your head (if you're a guy), is into hunting and Navy SEALS workout regimens, then this is kind of preaching-to-the-choir for you. I kind of wanted preaching-to-the-choir...I had an assumption that discomfort is good for us and wanted to read something that proves it...but I'm not into those things. So I didn't really identify with these parts of the book.
2) If you're the kind of person who likes opinions from experts and statistics, you'll get plenty here. The writer travels around the world talking to researchers, monks, personal trainers about percentages of people overeating, losing strength compared to previous generations, being more stressed, etc. It's impressive how he went to the ends of the earth (e.g. Bhutan) to talk to people with differing viewpoints. On the other hand, I felt like I knew a lot of this stuff (Bhutanese Gross Happiness Product, the obesity epidemic in the US, carbs aren't actually bad for you, etc) or that I could've read these statistics in an article.
I wanted to like this book but the hunting focus really took me out of it. And as for the other stuff, I guess it was my fault looking for a preaching-to-the-choir kind of book: it appealed to me because I already knew what I was going to be reading about.
I'll give two accurate personality types that this book is for:
1) If you're the kind of person who does Crossfit, shaves your head (if you're a guy), is into hunting and Navy SEALS workout regimens, then this is kind of preaching-to-the-choir for you. I kind of wanted preaching-to-the-choir...I had an assumption that discomfort is good for us and wanted to read something that proves it...but I'm not into those things. So I didn't really identify with these parts of the book.
2) If you're the kind of person who likes opinions from experts and statistics, you'll get plenty here. The writer travels around the world talking to researchers, monks, personal trainers about percentages of people overeating, losing strength compared to previous generations, being more stressed, etc. It's impressive how he went to the ends of the earth (e.g. Bhutan) to talk to people with differing viewpoints. On the other hand, I felt like I knew a lot of this stuff (Bhutanese Gross Happiness Product, the obesity epidemic in the US, carbs aren't actually bad for you, etc) or that I could've read these statistics in an article.
I wanted to like this book but the hunting focus really took me out of it. And as for the other stuff, I guess it was my fault looking for a preaching-to-the-choir kind of book: it appealed to me because I already knew what I was going to be reading about.
December 26, 2021
The best I can say was that some of the information was fine if a bit magazine-lite. But this book was a personal discomfort and endurance challenge (lol) courtesy of the, cue the jingle folks, incessant low-key misogyny! A handful of examples:
-The three women experts cited (of ~40+) are “shy”, working in surprisingly “unsexy fields”, or in “pink running shoes”.
- Any other woman mentioned is a distant wife holding down the home front or a victim of kidnapping (seriously, his entire history of Iceland said it started from a population of N thousands, whom I guess weren’t women, plus women who were kidnapped).
- The book spools out a conceit of fit, hardy, and uncomfortable vs sedentary, soft, and unfit. Many, many of the norms and practices critiqued are female-coded: yoga, wellness, Paris Hilton’s dog (yes, really), meditation (there’s a serious bete noir with meditation as it stands in for human weakness multiple times. Funny, given that much of what the book recommends is, essentially, meditation), the list goes on.
- People apparently never carry heavy things anymore which is probably news to every toddler-carrying mom/parent out there.
- Can’t even start with the flattening of indigenous peoples. Sigh.
In the year of our lord 2021, “girls, ew” no longer gets to be a thesis that wins book deals. New material, please.
-The three women experts cited (of ~40+) are “shy”, working in surprisingly “unsexy fields”, or in “pink running shoes”.
- Any other woman mentioned is a distant wife holding down the home front or a victim of kidnapping (seriously, his entire history of Iceland said it started from a population of N thousands, whom I guess weren’t women, plus women who were kidnapped).
- The book spools out a conceit of fit, hardy, and uncomfortable vs sedentary, soft, and unfit. Many, many of the norms and practices critiqued are female-coded: yoga, wellness, Paris Hilton’s dog (yes, really), meditation (there’s a serious bete noir with meditation as it stands in for human weakness multiple times. Funny, given that much of what the book recommends is, essentially, meditation), the list goes on.
- People apparently never carry heavy things anymore which is probably news to every toddler-carrying mom/parent out there.
- Can’t even start with the flattening of indigenous peoples. Sigh.
In the year of our lord 2021, “girls, ew” no longer gets to be a thesis that wins book deals. New material, please.
May 22, 2022
One of my favorite categories of books is “nonfiction that reads like can’t-put-it-down fiction.“ (One example: Born to Run.) Another category is “so inspiring I immediately changed my own life.” (See Byron Katie’s Loving What Is.)
Michael Easter’s new book The Comfort Crisis is BOTH.
I read it in three days. The tale of his epic adventure in the Arctic woven throughout the lessons and science was straight-up enthralling. He stirred up something inside me that made me believe I was tougher than I had been giving myself credit for. And he reminded me that my ability to get comfortable in discomfort is the most powerful tool in my arsenal during times of stress or uncertainty.
Halfway through the book, I came across a chapter about rucking, and intuitively sensed this was the universe speaking. I immediately placed an order with GORUCKfor a plate carrier and weights. If you follow my stories here, you have seen what adding rucking to my fitness routine has done for me.
I will never hike through the Arctic with a elk on my back, but I will continue to take the inspiration I found in these pages and carve out an even better version of me—stronger, happier, more confident, more resilient. More than anything, I need you to understand that no matter where you are right now, YOU CAN DO THAT TOO.
Michael Easter’s new book The Comfort Crisis is BOTH.
I read it in three days. The tale of his epic adventure in the Arctic woven throughout the lessons and science was straight-up enthralling. He stirred up something inside me that made me believe I was tougher than I had been giving myself credit for. And he reminded me that my ability to get comfortable in discomfort is the most powerful tool in my arsenal during times of stress or uncertainty.
Halfway through the book, I came across a chapter about rucking, and intuitively sensed this was the universe speaking. I immediately placed an order with GORUCKfor a plate carrier and weights. If you follow my stories here, you have seen what adding rucking to my fitness routine has done for me.
I will never hike through the Arctic with a elk on my back, but I will continue to take the inspiration I found in these pages and carve out an even better version of me—stronger, happier, more confident, more resilient. More than anything, I need you to understand that no matter where you are right now, YOU CAN DO THAT TOO.
January 16, 2024
3 stars
I found the concept of this book interesting and I was looking forward to reading it. While I do agree most of us are too comfortable in a lot of ways, I’m not sure the solution to that is to go out in the wilderness. At least that’s not what I’m going to do. And I didn’t really care to hear about all of the author's wilderness stories. I am not a fan of hearing about hunting and so much of this book was hunting stories. I think if it was less of that and shorter in general I would have liked it more. There were a few things I got from the book but overall I didn’t enjoy it much.
I found the concept of this book interesting and I was looking forward to reading it. While I do agree most of us are too comfortable in a lot of ways, I’m not sure the solution to that is to go out in the wilderness. At least that’s not what I’m going to do. And I didn’t really care to hear about all of the author's wilderness stories. I am not a fan of hearing about hunting and so much of this book was hunting stories. I think if it was less of that and shorter in general I would have liked it more. There were a few things I got from the book but overall I didn’t enjoy it much.
Audio book source: Libby
Story Rating: 3 stars
Narrators: Michael Easter
Narration Rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: Non-fiction
Length: 8h 52m
June 23, 2025
I can agree with a lot of what is said, and I think I could’ve and would’ve reached the same conclusions without putting myself through such extreme explorations. Living outside your comfort zone is definitely a good kind of stress, but I really think any kind of too much is as detrimental as being too comfortable. We are all and always in a state of dying. We can only slow it down.
January 4, 2024
This was an interesting take on a subject which is not new - the tendency of Americans to overeat and and under-exercise, and the consequences of those choices. Easter takes the discussion a bit further by using recent scientific research on the beneficial effects of being in nature to suggest that humans need time in nature, if only for twenty minutes a day, and lack of such time has negative physical and mental consequences. I think he is onto something, but I'm naturally disposed to think that. His central thematic device is a description of a 31-day wilderness experience on Alaska's North Slope, and this may be off-putting to many readers, because the purpose of the trip was a caribou hunt. Easter says he is trying to recreate the experience of our hunter-gatherer forebears who regularly went out hunting for big game to bring protein back to the tribe. It is an interesting experience, and as one who had grandparents who were Alaska "pioneers", and friends who lived there, I understand that this kind of hunt is a part of the culture, and Easter makes the point that anyone who eats meat is simply outsourcing the killing to someone else. Fair enough, and he makes some good points that I had not thought of, like his disquisition on humans' unique ability among primates to carry heavy loads, and how such carrying, in the form of "rucking" might be a good form of exercise.
I was interested by his discussions with PhD's who study the beneficial effects of time in nature, and I completely agree with the need for young people to have those experiences, in multi-day wilderness hiking form, and I worked hard as a father to provide those for my sons. There is apparently a magic to being in nature for at least four days straight, but even on a day to day basis, just being in a park for 20-30 minutes a day is tangibly beneficial to multiple metabolic metrics. I read this book, which is an easy, quick read, because it was name-checked by Peter Attia in his book, Outlive. Attia's book is much more dense from a research standpoint, but Comfort Crisis covers slightly different ground for the most part.
The summary is that we should embrace discomfort a bit more, spend time in nature, try to live a bit more like the painters of the Lascaux Cave, and spend less time looking at our phones; Easter asserts this will be good for us individually, and arguably for society in general.
I was interested by his discussions with PhD's who study the beneficial effects of time in nature, and I completely agree with the need for young people to have those experiences, in multi-day wilderness hiking form, and I worked hard as a father to provide those for my sons. There is apparently a magic to being in nature for at least four days straight, but even on a day to day basis, just being in a park for 20-30 minutes a day is tangibly beneficial to multiple metabolic metrics. I read this book, which is an easy, quick read, because it was name-checked by Peter Attia in his book, Outlive. Attia's book is much more dense from a research standpoint, but Comfort Crisis covers slightly different ground for the most part.
The summary is that we should embrace discomfort a bit more, spend time in nature, try to live a bit more like the painters of the Lascaux Cave, and spend less time looking at our phones; Easter asserts this will be good for us individually, and arguably for society in general.
March 29, 2024
Anybody who has read Teddy Roosevelt knows he took the same position in his own time - We are getting soft and distancing ourselves from the basic challenges of living as an animal on this wild planet. Few of us could accomplish what Teddy felt to be basic skills. And humanity moves further every year from the original state of barely surviving. Full disclosure - I write as I sit in my comfy Herman Miller at a computer in a house with air conditioning and a fully stocked refrigerator.
Reading The Comfort Crisis I felt guilty of validating my own worldview, patting myself on the back, which it did, but I was looking for more. The Comfort Crisis is more Outside magazine than academic work. This is not necessarily bad, I just wanted more Hormesis, less anecdote. Maybe I'm too podcast saturated on this topic.
Reading The Comfort Crisis I felt guilty of validating my own worldview, patting myself on the back, which it did, but I was looking for more. The Comfort Crisis is more Outside magazine than academic work. This is not necessarily bad, I just wanted more Hormesis, less anecdote. Maybe I'm too podcast saturated on this topic.
February 16, 2022
I was on board with the concept that we need to experience discomfort or a challenge to grow. However, I’m 20% in and the book so far seems to be a vehicle for the author to humble brag or justify his elk hunting trip in Alaska. Maybe it gets better, but I have too many other books in my queue to find out.
December 25, 2023
If Bear Grylls and Malcolm Gladwell had a baby, then that baby would author this book.
Wow. There is a lot of discussion of men and meat. Men climbing things. Men sweating.
Indeed, the propulsive testosterone is so pervasive from this book, I feel the need to take a pregnancy test after reading it.
This is not a book about discomfort or comfort, health or happiness. This is a book about a particular ideology of masculinity perpetuating its truth. For example, "I come from a long line of men who seem to run on booze, bullshit, and self-serving chaos."
As Michael Easter runs away from these men, he moves towards Alaska, killing animals, thinking about meat and climbing random landmarks. The rationale for these particular goals is unclear, except to run away from that 'long line of men.'
Men writing about masculinity is incredibly important. Men writing about men pretending that they are writing about truth, health, and personal and professional development are lying to themselves and their readers.
Wow. There is a lot of discussion of men and meat. Men climbing things. Men sweating.
Indeed, the propulsive testosterone is so pervasive from this book, I feel the need to take a pregnancy test after reading it.
This is not a book about discomfort or comfort, health or happiness. This is a book about a particular ideology of masculinity perpetuating its truth. For example, "I come from a long line of men who seem to run on booze, bullshit, and self-serving chaos."
As Michael Easter runs away from these men, he moves towards Alaska, killing animals, thinking about meat and climbing random landmarks. The rationale for these particular goals is unclear, except to run away from that 'long line of men.'
Men writing about masculinity is incredibly important. Men writing about men pretending that they are writing about truth, health, and personal and professional development are lying to themselves and their readers.
December 13, 2021
Book of the year 🤔
Read
October 20, 2023This gave me SO MUCH to think about
dnf
February 13, 2022Could not get into this, despite my best efforts. The author’s voice was annoying, and I felt the book lacked the necessary research to make some of these claims (I think the thrust of the thing is correct, and it does generally interest me!). Not for me.
December 2, 2020
An interesting book, that led to several wonderful discussions with my husband and friends. The idea that we are so programed to seek comfort, and are now so dependent on it that we are afraid of living resonated with us. The idea that pushing ourselves outside the everyday norm sounds practical to appreciate and view things differently. At times it felt a bit didactic though, and repetitive, but basically I really enjoyed this book and the concept of thinking and living outside the same old same old. If you feel you are in a rut, or want to be a bit adventurous, read this book. It gives a lot of food for thought, and I highly recommend it and the author. Fun touches of humor helps the flow and interest of the topic.
April 26, 2021
I don’t usually read self help books and after this book I may have to start reading more. I really liked this book. It was very informative and really made me think about things, and I thought it was pretty relevant to what’s happening now especially being stuck at home for a year due to the pandemic. What I really loved though was how Michael Easter threw in an adventure story mixed in with all the facts. It was the perfect balance of learning and being entertained at the same time. I even watched Donnie’s YouTube videos because I wanted to know what he looked like because he cracked me up.
December 29, 2021
What's the ultimate goal in this life? Is it to transcend the problems of everyday reality and retire in comfort and serenity near the beach? Or is it to test our limits regularly and embrace the discomfort and challenges of being a human being? This is a question many of us take for granted. We all think that retiring rich, fat, and happy should be the ultimate goal, but how many of us would be lonely and bored should we ever reach that plateau?
The Comfort Crisis looks in depth at these questions and how our unending search for comfort and convenience has robbed us of much of our vitality and humanity. Michael Easter is an UNLV professor and editor for Men's Health magazine, and has come up with this thought-provoking book, his first.
The author does an excellent job at combining fascinating discussions of scientific research with his own journey- a 33 day trip through the most remote Alaska back country.
Easter calls this trip, where he goes as far from civilization as you can get in North America, a Misogi. Taken from Japanese mythology, a Misogi is a purification ritual that is meant to be an epic challenge, one where there is a substantial risk of failure that somehow stretches humans past boundaries they didn't know they had. By embracing comfort, so many of us have lost sight of our potential, and this intense ritual is a way of breaking past the barriers that make us cozy and contented.
For most of human history over thousands and thousands of years, our bodies have evolved to handle intense physical challenges. Our embrace of electronic devices and comfy chairs has shut down all of this evolutionary advantage and made many of us miserable for reasons we don't understand. Even our exercise routines have to be short, efficient, and comfortable in shiny, new fitness centers.
Easter leaves his Las Vegas home for the Alaskan wilderness with two seasoned companions and has to endure long walks over uneven terrain, blinding wind and snowstorms, going on a primitive hunt for caribou, one of the last wild pack animals of North America. This book is unique in how it weaves the story of Easter's adventure with the research from back home that ties in with all of his experiences. I could write a full blog on any of these discoveries, but here is a summary of the top twelve from this book.
1- People who face adversity feel better off both physically and psychologically than those who don't. Pain feels less intense, and anxiety is lower because there's a resilience and knowledge that they can handle whatever comes. Those who live in comfort all the time react much more poorly to even minor challenges.
2- The reason that time seems to pass so quickly as you age is that you get more comfortable and on autopilot as you get older. Memories are triggered mainly when you are learning things and overcoming obstacles, and that is what makes time seem to slow down. In your youth you are always learning and restructuring your brain, which keeps it young and makes time seem to stretch out.
3- Americans have changed from 5% living in rural areas in 1776 to 85% in 2020. Urban areas are filled with more conveniences, but they also come with more mental and physical illnesses that drag on our happiness. As population density increases, happiness decreases according to what's called the Savannah Theory of Happiness.
4- Boredom is good for us. It forces us to tap into our creativity and look for new pathways. Today's digital menu of smartphones, streaming content, and the internet robs us of those opportunities, and addicts us to attention-grabbing cotton candy for the mind. Easter claims we spend 11 hours per day on digital media, but I've seen 8-9 hours elsewhere. In any case, it's an enormous chunk of our day. One of the best things about a Misogi like this is that it took the author away from all of his content, which forced his brain to adapt and find new ways to combat boredom.
5- For those who crave comfort, going out in nature is difficult. Nature is unpredictable, uncertain, and often uncomfortable. Weather can be hot, cold, or rainy, and the further out you go the more you have to leave your security and comforts behind. But going out in nature is critical for mental and spiritual well-being. Being in nature allows your default mode network to activate and for you to detach from your problems. Easter recommends a minimum of three 20-minute walks in nature per week, or up to 5 hours a month in nature. To get the best effect, a minimum of 3 days out in nature with minimal creature comforts can bring great restorative powers to the human brain.
6- To combat poor eating habits, the book recommends combating mindless eating with food diaries. We routinely underestimate what we eat, and Easter talks with an expert who says you can eat anything that you want, as long as you limit your total calories and focus on foods that actually fill you up. While junk foods are calorie dense, they are ultimately unsatisfying and leave you still hungry. Potatoes are one of the best foods you can eat to fill you up, as long as they aren't processed or fried. A lot of foods can be considered "comfort foods"- treats meant to calm down your anxieties or depression. The effects of these foods don't last long at all, and the author encourages people to deal with their stress and discomfort in other ways, not through eating.
7- Easter looks at intermittent fasting, which is a trendy nutritional topic these days. Going for 12-16 hours without food can sometimes be a good strategy because it gives the body a chance to go after "trash cells" once all the food in the stomach has been metabolized. Humans before the 20th century often went for days without food, and our eating is governed more by clocks and triggers than actual hunger.
8- The book takes an unexpected detour to Bhutan, where the author meets with spiritual leaders to talk about death. We hear from the secretary of happiness from one of the happiest countries in the world. He says that a strong sense of community and attachment to the land are much more important than chasing that next job or purchase. And confronting the uncomfortable fact that death is coming can prod humans to appreciate life much more and look for the scenic route instead of the fastest lane.
9- Hunting in some ways can be more humane than natural death. The caribou in the book dies in seconds, where usually they would die slowly and painfully as their pack moves on without them. Those of us who love animals have no idea how cruel nature can actually be.
10- Humans are gifted with a great ability to travel long distances on foot and carry heavy objects at the same time. One of the great fitness ideas from this book is something called rucking. People in the military ruck often when they carry heavy backpacks on long hikes. The author carried over 100 pounds of caribou meat on his back. This type of exercise combines cardio and strength workouts in the same activity and has been shown to build both muscles and endurance.
11- 80% of back pain comes from either being too active or not enough. Opioids are not a solution, but gentle exercises that increase flexibility and core strength help greatly with this common malady.
12- While modern sanitation practices have saved humanity from terrible contagious diseases, there could be such a thing as too much hygiene. Some doctors are thinking that over-sanitization could be causing more health problems, especially auto-immune diseases like allergies, inflammatory bowels, rheumatoid arthritis, and type-1 diabetes. The hygiene hypothesis says that the vast majority of bacteria and germs are either harmless or even beneficial, and that without enough of them, our bodies start attacking things they shouldn't (one reason autoimmune diseases have been on the rise since modern sanitation practices became so common.)
This book is one of my favorites of 2021, and is filled with food for thought. While I'm not likely to explore the Alaskan outback any time soon, it makes me want to spend more time away from my routines to see what I'm capable of. A Misogi doesn't have to be life-threatening, but the act of taking forest baths, digital detoxes, sabbaticals, and retreats have been popular all over the world and can be remarkably restorative.
Comfort is nice and inviting, but like anything else must be done in moderation. Sometimes it's important to be uncomfortable, especially if taken on voluntarily. Too much discomfort can make us miserable, but so can too much comfort. As with everything else the key is finding the sweet spot- the perfect balance that both challenges and restores us. Books like this help to examine the costs and benefits of too much comfort, which is what the author says is dragging many of us down.
December 13, 2021
Ten stars. Mind blown. I’ll re-read every year. Second best read of 2021. What an incredible journey and I loved how he tied each piece of his experience to some scientific fact or research. Fascinating doesn’t even begin to describe it.
June 23, 2022
Alternative titles: "How To Teach About Hedonistic Adaptation While Being Clueless About Said Adaptation" or "Common Sense About Human Comforts & Health That Nobody Needs To Explain"
This book is masquerading as something smart and incisive but if the reader is bold enough to turn on their brain while reading, they will find that everything either boils down to common sense that even children already intuitively know or conclusions where the author is way out over his skis on based on pulling correlated data points together and asserting there is causation.
Some examples of "duh" comments that are presented as groundbreaking discoveries:
-The brain dramatically relaxes and refreshes after 2+ days of rest. The brain waves actually look different on day 2 because the first day off it is still operating as if it is working. Huh, sort of like how we all feel refreshed after a weekend? You don't say
-Sherpas cardiovascular systems are strengthened in a particular way which allows them to exercise much better at lower altitudes. So you're saying the body gets better conditioning from an activity if practiced habitually, such as climbing Everest daily for your job? Powerful
Some examples of terrible conclusions where he cherry picks data points:
-He claims that colon cancer incidences are higher in America due to diet. To prove this point he cites research into a small tribe who eat differently and as a result have lower incidences of getting sick. Um, what does that prove about colon cancer which was your original thesis?
-Repeatedly he cites that people that live in rural and suburban areas are happy to support his conclusion that people are happier with more outdoors time. First of all, where is the data that suggests rural/suburban people spend more time outdoors than urban folks? Secondly, could that data be suffering from selection bias since folks that have the means and agency to move outside of the city are likely more skilled and affluent than those that are unable, therefore city population health numbers are likely weighed down by folks with mental health issues, housing instability, etc?
The book is rife with these types of "facts" that the author presents to the point where you can easily pick apart his lazy analysis where he cherry picks data points and conclusions that just aren't well founded. I thought the most helpful and interesting part of the book detailed how much strain our brain is under when using a smartphone and how we aren't actually resting our brain when we are using it.
Basically this author was probably given some advance money to go write long form articles and then a book and used that to help fund an expert guided month long wilderness hike in Alaska. His conclusions are incredibly unhelpful for modern readers in that he implies we ought to live and behave more like our ancestors. And by that, he means the ones from thousands and millions of years ago based on the handful of data points we can gather about their shelters and bone structures. I guess everyone is free to do so, including the author, but perhaps the reason we aren't is because having a home with utilities and the requirements of income and steady work create necessities in even the most zealous of readers that are greater than the desire to live in a cave. Instead of bringing it home in terms of learnings to the reader, the author sort of implies that if we all just moved to the backcountry, got rid of smart phones, swam in cold water and climbed mountains we would be cured of modern diseases. The closest he comes to a realistic implication for readers is his obsession with rucking that centers on an interview with a guy who sells ruck packs and indicates we should carry weighted backpacks and walk around daily with them on. Totally lost on this author are more practical ideas like living closer to where you work so you can bike/walk everywhere, live closer to parks for more reasons to be outside and exercise, etc.
I found it incredible that during his entire book about how our bodies adjust to both comfort and discomfort he never described hedonistic adaptation which is basically the core principle of the book. I think the reason is because out of all the one off people he sought out to reinforce his view points, nobody took 5 minutes to educate him that this entire book can be summarized by hedonism.
Yes, this is a quick easy read but I still don't think it is worth the reader's time.
This book is masquerading as something smart and incisive but if the reader is bold enough to turn on their brain while reading, they will find that everything either boils down to common sense that even children already intuitively know or conclusions where the author is way out over his skis on based on pulling correlated data points together and asserting there is causation.
Some examples of "duh" comments that are presented as groundbreaking discoveries:
-The brain dramatically relaxes and refreshes after 2+ days of rest. The brain waves actually look different on day 2 because the first day off it is still operating as if it is working. Huh, sort of like how we all feel refreshed after a weekend? You don't say
-Sherpas cardiovascular systems are strengthened in a particular way which allows them to exercise much better at lower altitudes. So you're saying the body gets better conditioning from an activity if practiced habitually, such as climbing Everest daily for your job? Powerful
Some examples of terrible conclusions where he cherry picks data points:
-He claims that colon cancer incidences are higher in America due to diet. To prove this point he cites research into a small tribe who eat differently and as a result have lower incidences of getting sick. Um, what does that prove about colon cancer which was your original thesis?
-Repeatedly he cites that people that live in rural and suburban areas are happy to support his conclusion that people are happier with more outdoors time. First of all, where is the data that suggests rural/suburban people spend more time outdoors than urban folks? Secondly, could that data be suffering from selection bias since folks that have the means and agency to move outside of the city are likely more skilled and affluent than those that are unable, therefore city population health numbers are likely weighed down by folks with mental health issues, housing instability, etc?
The book is rife with these types of "facts" that the author presents to the point where you can easily pick apart his lazy analysis where he cherry picks data points and conclusions that just aren't well founded. I thought the most helpful and interesting part of the book detailed how much strain our brain is under when using a smartphone and how we aren't actually resting our brain when we are using it.
Basically this author was probably given some advance money to go write long form articles and then a book and used that to help fund an expert guided month long wilderness hike in Alaska. His conclusions are incredibly unhelpful for modern readers in that he implies we ought to live and behave more like our ancestors. And by that, he means the ones from thousands and millions of years ago based on the handful of data points we can gather about their shelters and bone structures. I guess everyone is free to do so, including the author, but perhaps the reason we aren't is because having a home with utilities and the requirements of income and steady work create necessities in even the most zealous of readers that are greater than the desire to live in a cave. Instead of bringing it home in terms of learnings to the reader, the author sort of implies that if we all just moved to the backcountry, got rid of smart phones, swam in cold water and climbed mountains we would be cured of modern diseases. The closest he comes to a realistic implication for readers is his obsession with rucking that centers on an interview with a guy who sells ruck packs and indicates we should carry weighted backpacks and walk around daily with them on. Totally lost on this author are more practical ideas like living closer to where you work so you can bike/walk everywhere, live closer to parks for more reasons to be outside and exercise, etc.
I found it incredible that during his entire book about how our bodies adjust to both comfort and discomfort he never described hedonistic adaptation which is basically the core principle of the book. I think the reason is because out of all the one off people he sought out to reinforce his view points, nobody took 5 minutes to educate him that this entire book can be summarized by hedonism.
Yes, this is a quick easy read but I still don't think it is worth the reader's time.
November 11, 2022
There's a decent story in here about a magazine writer who goes on a trip to Alaska to hunt caribou for basically no reason other than to see if he could do it. If you can get past all the sanctimonious bullshit about how Americans are too comfortable, too overweight, and spend too much time on their phones. (Never mind that the research he cited said kids started being less creative in the 1990's, which is before cell phones.) But we could magically fix all of these problems if we went outside in nature for 5 hours a week! Then why did you need to go to Alaska for a month?
It sure is great that this guy was so privileged that he could afford to take a month unpaid vacation and buy a whole bunch of gear to do this. Tell the story of your trip, but don't spend the whole book criticizing your readers because they haven't made all the exact same choices as you.
It sure is great that this guy was so privileged that he could afford to take a month unpaid vacation and buy a whole bunch of gear to do this. Tell the story of your trip, but don't spend the whole book criticizing your readers because they haven't made all the exact same choices as you.
December 30, 2021
this book was on thin ice for like, the first 35% or so. it ended up being okay, mostly because the author stopped talking about his opinions and started talking about scientific and psychological studies about the benefits of like, walking outside amongst trees and shit.
in general, i buy the basic premise of 'humans are generally exceedingly comfortable 24/7 and pushing outside of that occasionally can be tremendously healthy and rewarding'. i dont love the author's specific brand of like, ignoring that there are millions of human beings whose day to day is actually not that comfortable.
in general, i buy the basic premise of 'humans are generally exceedingly comfortable 24/7 and pushing outside of that occasionally can be tremendously healthy and rewarding'. i dont love the author's specific brand of like, ignoring that there are millions of human beings whose day to day is actually not that comfortable.
Read
February 2, 2024This is not a knock against this well-written book since many people may not know this stuff but it contains the same advice to not eat so much, gets lots of exercise, don't look at your phone too much, and expose yourself to cold that you also hear in every other longevity and health related book. Although I enjoyed the writing and anecdotes I can't say I learned a single new thing.
November 22, 2023
The purest form of "if you're sad just go outside" and "back in my day" cringe.
July 2, 2024
A lot of great points about eating and being more active but minus stars for giving off major arrogance vibes 😬
July 8, 2024
I tried to give this a chance, I really did. But the target audience is literally bored rich white conservatives.
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