The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Michael Easter (Author, Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)

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“If you've been looking for something different to level up your health, fitness, and personal growth, this is it.” (Melissa Urban, Whole30 CEO and New York Times best-selling author)

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 33-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.

Listening Length

8 hours and 52 minutes
Author

Michael Easter
Narrator

Michael Easter
Audible release date

May 11, 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Random House Audio
ASIN

B08LDX3TZ2
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	8 hours and 52 minutes
Author	Michael Easter
Narrator	Michael Easter
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	May 11, 2021
Publisher	Random House Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08LDX3TZ2
Best Sellers Rank	#902 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #2 in Adventure Travel (Audible Books & Originals) #3 in Exercise & Fitness (Audible Books & Originals) #6 in Adventure Travel (Books)

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Alex Theis

An invitation to shift your perspectives

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2021

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This book will challenge you in ways that may be 'uncomfortable' but very necessary. Throughout the book I found myself questioning how I'm living my life. The profound introspective made me stop reading at times and think about things I want to do before I die. It made me think about death itself.

One section inspired me to do something very hard, with a 50% chance of failure. I failed. It was humbling and an awakening experience.

The book motivated me to give up social media entirely for two weeks (hard to do when I depend on it for work) and leave my phone in the car when going out with family/friends.

I loved the big picture, personal perspectives shared, backed by real scientific, detailed analysis and proof.

If you feel like your life could use a bit of a shakeup, or that the daily grind of work, comfort, and technology are wearing you down, read this. It will edify your feelings and beg you to act on them.

As someone who grew up hunting regularly, then gave it up because of the barbaric nature and not wanting to hurt animals ever again, this book helped change my perspective. I love when an author can artfully confront you without being demeaning or condescending.

If you want more meaning out of life, relationships, and ultimately confront your own demise, read this book with an OPEN MIND and you will be inspired to do something hard or something new. Because, "new events decelerate our perception of time."

54 people found this helpful

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Palmer

Motivational and Refreshing

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2021

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A fabulous read! Adventures across the globe, highlight the creature comforts we constantly take for granted in our normal lives. The simplest things - shelter, heat, technology, internet, or cell phones, and how they have created a "world of pillows" to soften our experiences into a gentle ride through life with minimal actual challenge. There appears to be a continual decline in physical and mental excursion as humans, as we have evolved our civilizations and habits from problem solving, muscular creatures, living in the wild, to a group of "google searching", obese, instant gratification seeking people, ill equipped to manage solidarity or even conflict. The book is well written and I appreciated the intermingled narrative of his personal experience and data studies, as it solidifies his message with factual research information. Truly thought provoking and motivating! I already bought another copy as a gift. Check the author out, as he discusses the book, on Joe Rogan's podcast!

70 people found this helpful

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Don

This is magic

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2021

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I originally ordered this book to find how hiking with a weighted pack would ad a new dimension to my training. I found out so much more. I loved this book. Every time I got comfortable Michael would take me down a rabbit hole. As a person who's happy place is in the back country away from others and a avid Hunter and fisherman, this part of the book speaks to my soul. What I really enjoyed was reading about all of the research he had done to tie everything together. I'm looking forward to implementing some of these practices into my life.

28 people found this helpful

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Ryan MacTaggart

A great read and a new way to look at some of our biggest issues!

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2021

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Society is built to seek comfort but it comes at a cost. Through a combination of great story-telling, first-hand research including spending 33 days in the Alaskan Wilderness, and conversations with experts of discomfort from professional athletes to Special Forces Soldiers turned entrepreneurs, Easter takes you on a deep dive to explore the counterintuitive but nearly obvious way to live better. Seek discomfort, find purpose and meaning.

39 people found this helpful

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will

Michael Easter is the new Malcolm Gladwell

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2021

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Amazing book! Easter expertly weaves data and statistics with human interest stories making for a compelling interdisciplinary argument the whole way through. This book would be a great gift for people who like Malcolm Gladwell's writing. 6 stars.

17 people found this helpful

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Todd

Really resonates with me

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2021

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This book really resonates with me. I do feel like comfort is addicting modern society in an unhealthy way. Screens, junk food, temperature controlled living, continually sitting, and living in cities are all driving us away from our natural healthy selves. We're not meant to look at screens 16 hours a day or sit all day long. This book does a good job of wrapping a narrative with science to explain why all these things are not good for us and how they are leading to many health issues like heart disease, cancer, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's and more. The simple solution is get outside more, exercise outside more, move more, and get less comfortable. The results can be pretty staggering. Love how part of the narrative is wrapped up in a hunting story in Alaska. Hunting really gets you in touch with nature and our food sources and has the effect of helping us understand our place in nature.

2 people found this helpful

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Kevin Deates

Absolutely loved it!

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2021

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I love the way the author has a story or example of everything he talks about. Very entertaining and informative. I loved it! I listened to it on Audible before the hard copy arrived! I couldn’t wait!

7 people found this helpful

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Ian B

Well Written and Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2021

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If we recognize the audience this was written for (I'm specifically hinting at the angry "out of touch" review listed here), this is a very interesting read. The author presents a plethora of interviews, references, and experiences to weave his narrative and present an intriguing thesis: modern problems (physical, mental, social) very well MAY stem from the fact that we, as a species in many modern societies, have strayed so far from our anthropologic roots - we don't hunt for our food any more, we don't sleep through the night because of our TV's blaring, etc. The fact is, this is an interesting read and it may challenge many readers to evaluate how they live their lives today. If nothing else, you can be entertained reading about a west coast yuppie going hunting for the first time in his life in the Alaskan tundra.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Tige

It'll change your life

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2021

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I have read this book, cover to cover, twice. It's a life changer and is full of well researched scientifically based information about how we can improve our lives, in the modern, overly comfortable world we inhabit, mainly by doing things our distant ancestors used to do. I'm 74, always been fit and lift weights most days, but as a result of reading 'The Comfort Crisis' I now walk every where as well, wearing a weighted Goruck ruck-sac (which I learned about in the book) I now feel strange if I'm not hauling the weighted ruck-sac everywhere. I now wait until I'm actually hungry before eating and try not to have the heating on in the house. I think I have been waiting a long time to come across the information which Michael Easter presents in his book. Read it and feel really good, and excited about the rest of your (changed) life!!!

9 people found this helpful

John

This will stick with me forever

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2021

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I discovered this book through Melissa Urban and I'm so glad I did. There's not many books that stick with you after you put it down, but this one has. I was fascinated by the underpinning narrative of the hunt as someone who lives England hunting is just not that common. The respect and admiration of Donnie and Michael toward the hunting process and their prey is humbling.

In terms of a comfort crisis, this book spoke to me on a personal level and accurately put into words a lot of personal thoughts and feelings I've had for a while. Michael is spot on, when you've overcome overwhelming difficulties the small stuff really doesn't matter.

This book is well written, concise with information and full of amazing characters that I'd love to read more about. A must read.

5 people found this helpful

robert day

The benefits of getting out of our comfort zone.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2021

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Bought this book after hearing the author on the Joe Rogan podcast.

Must say the book and it’s message really hit home. He presents the facts and his journey in such a great way without any posturing just humility on his journey.

Has got me planning my own misogi.

Definitely recommend this book.

6 people found this helpful

strawdog

Embracing Storm Arwen's tribulations

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2021

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As chance would have it, I finished reading this marvellous, challenging book by candlelight, sitting on a mat in a cold, electricity-free house in the aftermath of Storm Arwen. It seemed quite apt and only added to my appreciation of Mr Easter's message; in fact, it helped me to embrace the experience.

Of course, spending a few days without electricity in a cut-off rural village does not compare to the central story of this book - a primal, embrace-the-suck Caribou hunt in Alaska - but it was an appropriate reminder of the book's central message - our Western comforts, for all their value, have profound drawbacks too.

In preparation for his Alaskan hunt, the author consulted many researchers across an array of disciplines, and the knowledge he gained is presented in concise, bite-sized pieces for the reader to consider.

My one criticism of the book is the lack of detailed end-notes. The author states that this is to do with 'strict page-count limits'. However, interested readers can sign up for a pdf of source material from the author's website.

All-in-all, this book is a superbly written, well-researched, and inspiring invitation to embrace natural discomforts for the good of our bodies and minds and I highly recommend it.

JON R

Strongly argued, beautifully written.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

As we stagger out of another lockdown this book feels incredibly prescient and suggests a desperate need for a more challenging 'new normal'. The narrative spine is an, on the surface, Jack Londonesque adventure in the Arctic, but beneath the Boy's Own romp there is something far more profound going on, a journey of self realisation and a manifesto for our collective futures. However, what really makes this book stand out and stand up is the weight and quality of research, interview and evidence presented in support of 'comfort crisis' hypothesis.

3 people found this helpful

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The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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