81. The Benefits of Doing The Hard Things | Jeff Krasno

Tweetable quote from Jeff

“Chronic disease is the result of chronic ease.”

Summary

In this episode, Dr Espen is joined by Jeff Krasno, co-founder and CEO of Commune. They discuss the power of good stress and its benefits for our physical and mental health, the importance of deliberately placing ourselves in discomfort and practical tools and strategies for building emotional resilience, including meditation, breathwork, and engaging in difficult conversations.

About our guest:

Jeff Krasno is the co-founder and CEO of Commune, a masterclass platform for personal and societal well-being and co-creator of Wanderlust, a global series of wellness events. He hosts the Commune podcast, interviewing a wide variety of luminaries from Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson to Matthew McConaughey and Gabor Maté. 

His latest venture expands Jeff’s personal story and protocols into a book,Good Stress: The Benefits of Doing Hard Things (Hay House, March 2025). The book dives deeper into the concepts from the course, distilling insights from over 400 podcast conversations Jeff has conducted, along with his personal experiences applying these ideas to transform his own health. It explores deliberate, self-imposed behaviors that promote social, psychological, and physical well-being, offering both a philosophical exploration of true wellness and practical steps to achieve it.

📲Find out more about Jeff

Website: https://www.jeffkrasno.com/

📲Find out more about Dr Espen

Website: https://drespen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drespenwoldjensen

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_espen/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr_espen

Check our upcoming events: https://bit.ly/3whDgVo

💡Episode Highlights:

• 00:00:00 - Episode trailer
• 00:02:51 - Stress as an adaptive response
• 00:07:26 - The importance of deliberate stress
• 00:09:17 - Self-imposing stress in modern society
• 00:12:47 - Avoiding good stress and its consequences
• 00:15:15 - Obesity and chronic disease epidemic
• 00:19:53 - Benefits of fasting beyond physiology
• 00:25:16 - Physiological and psychological tools
• 00:31:58 - The attention economy and emotional regulation
• 00:35:08 - Practices for building emotional resilience
• 00:39:35 - The opportunity in returning to focus
• 00:42:38 - Upcoming book on good stress
• 00:44:16 - Jeff's message on the power of change