The Comfort Conundrum
In modern life, welcoming discomfort makes us healthier and happier.
Be a 2-Percenter
Most people take the elevator. Be someone who takes the stairs instead.
Enter the Wilderness
There are many ways to experience nature. Most of them make you healthier and happier.
Leverage Boredom
Inactivity can drive us to our screens—or spark rejuvenation and creativity.
Unpack Hunger
Skip a meal—and watch closely what unfolds.
Now Hear This
For most of us, silence is scarce and awkward. It’s also important.
Find Solitude
Occasional alone-time boosts productivity, empathy, and self-awareness.
See the Cliff
Pondering death can inspire us to live with more presence and empathy.
Try Something New
Sharpen your focus by exploring novel tasks and ideas.
First-World Problems
We naturally look for what’s wrong. Discomfort helps us marvel at what’s right.
Unlock full audio with trial.
Embracing Discomfort
In Embracing Discomfort, journalist and professor Michael Easter challenges us to let go of certain modern comforts and incorporate a healthy amount of adversity into our "progressively sheltered, sterile, temperature-controlled, overfed, under-challenged lives."
“We often have to go through short-term discomfort to get long-term benefits,” Michael says—and doing so, according to the research, can help us make profoundly “positive shifts in our health, perspective, and well-being.”
to listen to all 10 sessions in this series.
Artwork by Ceci Erlich