Good Stress: The Health Benefits of Doing Hard Things

Ten protocols to counteract the "chronic ease" that creates our modern epidemic of dis-ease, from a wellness industry leader who can prove they work--because he's tested them on himself.

Jeff Krasno, the founder and CEO of the global wellness platform Commune Media, thought he was pretty healthy. Though he suffered from brain fog, chronic fatigue, and bouts of insomnia, those symptoms seemed utterly normal in today's society. When he learned he had diabetes, his first thought was, How can that be? I run a wellness company!

His diagnosis propelled him to consult every expert at his disposal and engage in intensive "me-search" in order to turn his health around. On this journey, he began to form a larger picture of what's wrong with our health in the modern world. In Good Stress--co-authored with his wife, Schuyler Grant, who shepherded him through 300-plus interviews with doctors and helped distill the results into actionable information--Jeff shares what he's learned and outlines a practical program for readers to reset their own health.

Jeff explains that the comforts and conveniences of modern life in the developed world undermine our biology. Humans evolved with Paleolithic stressors and scarcity, which conferred health and resilience.

Modern life sets us up for diabetes, dementia, heart disease, cancer, and more. Chronic disease is the result of chronic ease: an endless abundance of calories, sedentary desk jobs, exposure to blue light, and separation from nature. To come back into balance, we need to thoughtfully subject our bodies and minds to the stressors we're naturally built for.

This book distills the hundreds of conversations that Jeff has had with acclaimed teachers and practitioners in mind-body wellness, including Gabor Maté, Mark Hyman, Marianne Williamson, and Dr. Sara Gottfried. Jeff gives readers uncommonly wise and relatable guidance for 10 practices to extend both our lifespan and our healthspan, including:

• Time-restricted eating
• Cold and heat exposure
• Light therapy
• Eating "stressed plants"
• Building our "psychological immune system" and more

For each practice, Jeff shares his own experience (there's a great story of how Wim Hof finally convinced him to get into an ice bath); unpacks the science behind it, the place it has in our culture, and the effects it has on body and mind; and explains how to undertake it safely and mindfully.

Author: Jeff Krasno
Publisher: Hay House LLC
Published: 03/25/2025
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781401993955

About the Author
Jeff Krasno is the co-founder and CEO of Commune, an online course platform for personal and societal well-being. He also hosts the Commune podcast, interviewing a wide variety of health experts and luminaries from Andrew Huberman and Marianne Williamson to Matthew McConaughey and Gabor Maté. Every Sunday, Jeff pens a weekly "Commusings" essay that explores spirituality, wellness, and culture and is distributed to over one million subscribers.

Jeff is the creator of GOOD STRESS, a collection of wellness protocols he developed to reverse his diabetes, lose 60 pounds, and reclaim his health at age 50. The book, Good Stress: The Health Benefits of Doing Hard Things, was released March 25, 2025 by Hay House / Penguin Random House.

Jeff and his better three-quarters, Schuyler Grant, own and operate Commune Topanga, a 10-acre wellness center and production lab where they host regular retreats together featuring yoga, cold plunging, sauna bathing, lectures, and story-telling.

Jeff attended The Hotchkiss School and received his B.A. from Columbia University in 1993. In 2008, Jeff co-created the concept for Wanderlust, a series of large-scale events combining yoga & wellness with the arts. Wanderlust became the world's most recognized wellness events brand with 68 events in 20 countries. Jeff served as co-CEO for eight years.

Jeff serves on the board of Pure Edge, a non-profit organization dedicated to integrating yoga and mindfulness curriculum into the public school system. Jeff is a contributor to the Huffington Post and Fast Company. His first book, eponymously named Wanderlust, debuted in May 2015 on Rodale and has sold more than 50,000 copies worldwide. He also curated the Wanderlust cookbook, Find Your True Fork, which came out in July 2017.

In 2016, he was selected by Oprah Winfrey to be part of the SuperSoul100 as one of the nation's leading entrepreneurs.

Jeff and Schuyler have three beautiful daughters, Phoebe, Lolli, and Micah. They currently live in Los Angeles, California.

Schuyler Grant is the founder and co-director of Kula Yoga Project in NYC, the co-creator of Wanderlust, and co-owner/director of the Commune Topanga retreat center. Schuyler developed a unique and beloved style of alignment-based vinyasa called Kula Flow. The advanced teacher training she has led for over two decades has minted teachers and studio owners worldwide. She was also a creator of the 200- and 300-hour trainings for both Kula and Wanderlust. She is a regular contributor to the Commune platform, which hosts a dozen of her asana and breathwork courses. She is especially proud of Empowered Birth, a course she hosted and co-produced to support women's journey through pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum.

Schuyler opened the first Kula just two blocks north of Ground Zero in 2002, in an effort to help bring some heart and community back to Lower Manhattan. She is exceedingly proud that Kula is still going strong in SoHo and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She now resides in Los Angeles, with her beloved Jeff Krasno, their three daughters, and four chickens. She leads regular retreats and trainings, and considers herself exceptionally lucky to still love vinyasa-style yoga--and the same man--after all these years.

www.onecommune.com