The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self

Michael Easter 2021
Read: 2024
Non-Fiction, Reading Now, Spirtuality

After I wrote my blog post on doing something that sucks everyday, my sister-in-law Libby recommended that I read this book. It was an outstanding recommendation. Michael Easter does a wonderful job of telling the story of a highly challenging hunting trip to Alaska, weaving in research on how we 21st century humans have it so much easier than all previous generations of our species. And that’s not a good thing, according to Easter. 

I loved this book because it builds on so many topics I have been studying of late, as well as some new ones:

• He looks at the Japanese concept of Misogi – going through very challenging experiences in order to purify themselves and achieve a state of flow.. This concept reappears throughout the book.
• Killing mental clutter by experiencing and learning through new and difficult situations.
• Allowing yourself not to be stimulated by phones and media, and increasing creativity when your mind is allowed to wander.
• Being in nature as much as possible, and using the “soft fascination” of all that is natural and beautiful.
• Eating foods that are as natural and unprocessed. Eating low-density food, a concept that the Noom diet pushes hard.
• Letting yourself be hungry. It’s uncomfortable, but good for us.
• Thinking about death is uncomfortable, but Easter looks at Buddhist teachings, and life in Bhutan, showing us that thinking about Death can make us healthier and happier.
• We were built for walking, and our ability to carry weight while walking made us unstoppable as a species.
• We have become “the least fit humans of all time.”
• Those of us with back pain (me!) will benefit from more movement and more exercise
• Exposing ourselves to cold and warm temperatures helps us to thrive and be happy.

It’s a well-told story with excellent research woven in. I HIGHLY recommend!

You can purchase the book on Amazon here!