NEWSLETTER

The Comfort Crisis

Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Healthy, Happy 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, under-challenged lives actually be the leading cause of many of 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.

Since publication, The Comfort Crisis has become a bestseller and been adopted by Major League Baseball teams, top-ranked NCAA D1 football programs, top-tier universities and law programs, major corporations, tier-one military units, and more.

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Praise for The Comfort Crisis

“Michael Easter weaves scientific and sociologic research into his own story of finding deeper meaning ... a must-read for anyone wanting to go outside their comfort zones to find real connection to our world and beyond.” - Richard Dorment, Editor-In-Chief, Men's Health
Richard DormentEditor-In-Chief, Men's Health
“This revelatory, illuminating book is packed with big ideas on how our overly comfortable lives and routines have chipped away at our physical, mental, and emotional health.” -Liz Plosser, Editor-In-Chief, Women's Health
Liz PlosserEditor-In-Chief, Women's Health
"An unconventional clarion call to swim upstream against the currents of comfort and ease that challenges conventional wisdom about living life." -James Clapper, United States Director of National Intelligence, 2010 to 2017
James ClapperUnited States Director of National Intelligence, 2010 to 2017
“Breezy and yet bracing synthesis of tough adventures and hard science. Ironic, perhaps, for a book about how we need to challenge ourselves to be so enjoyable to read.” -Robert Moor, New York Times bestselling author of On Trails: An Exploration
Robert MoorNew York Times bestselling author of On Trails: An Exploration
"Easter’s voyage of self-discovery, told via an epic five-week hunting trip in the Alaskan backcountry, steers mercifully clear of evolutionary miracle cures and magical thinking. Instead, the book is a thoughtful exploration of how and why we might sometimes wish to seek out discomfort." -Outside Magazine
Outside Magazine
"Entertaining and enlightening, Easter's quest for sensation-restoring discomforts like a "rewilded" diet, creative boredom, and more is chock-full of solid science as well as rollicking adventure." -Dan Fagin, Author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation
Dan FaginAuthor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation
"An entertaining and thought-provoking adventure that weaves together findings from anthropology, physiology, neuroscience, and other disciplines. Easter makes a convincing case that happiness is more than the absence of cold, hunger, and boredom—in fact, a little discomfort may be exactly what we need." -Alex Hutchinson, New York Times Bestselling Author of Endure
Alex HutchinsonNew York Times Bestselling Author of Endure
“Shows why human greatness seldom rises from a perch of comfort and ease—and what you can do to maximize growth and fulfillment." -Brian Losey, Commanding Officer SEAL Team 6, Head of United States Naval Special Warfare Command
Brian LoseyCommanding Officer SEAL Team 6, Head of United States Naval Special Warfare Command
"Made me look differently at adversity, at challenges, at discomfort. Reading it made me want to be better, and a book simply can’t deliver more than that." -Tamar Haspel, Washington Post
Tamar HaspelWashington Post
I read The Comfort Crisis in three straight sittings, and was so motivated and inspired that I immediately made changes to my daily routines. Two months later, I've never been fitter, more self-confident, or happier. If you've been looking for something different to level up your health, fitness, and personal growth, THIS IS IT.
Melissa UrbanWhole30 CEO and 6x New York Times best-selling author.
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