The Dr. Josh Axe Show

Episode: The 24-Hour Practice That Transformed My Sleep & Saved My Family
Date: October 23, 2025
Host: Dr. Josh Axe
Guest: Justin Whitmel Earley — Author of Habits of the Household, The Common Rule, and The Body Teaches the Soul

Episode Overview

In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Josh Axe hosts Justin Whitmel Earley, a former missionary, lawyer, and best-selling author, to discuss the deep connections between spiritual health, mental health, and physical wellbeing. They delve into the role of daily habits, the epidemic of busyness, the importance of Sabbath, and how embodied, relational living is key to both personal breakthrough and family flourishing. Justin shares his personal journey through anxiety and insomnia, how a 24-hour Sabbath transformed his sleep and his household, and concrete, practical routines for spiritual and physical renewal that anyone can implement.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Justin’s Personal Story: Crash and Awakening

• Justin’s journey: Former missionary in China, became a lawyer, excelled professionally, but spiritually and physically crashed due to stress, busyness, and disconnection from his body’s needs.
  • “I used to be a missionary in China and then...I ended up in my first year of lawyering, suddenly falling completely apart. It was like my body suddenly said, stop, stop now.” (04:00)
• Hospital visit led to temporary solutions: Prescribed sleeping pills, which made things worse with nightmares and mood swings. Realized that his physical habits had led him far astray, even though his beliefs hadn’t changed.
  • “Nothing in my head had changed...What had changed was my habits, my physical and spiritual habits.” (06:16)
• Key realization: Habits—what we do day-in, day-out—shape not just our productivity but our spiritual and emotional lives.

2. The Busyness Trap and Western Disconnection (07:11–12:07)

• Modern pride in busyness: Both men and women, particularly parents, wear busyness as a badge of honor, often to the detriment of health.
• Identity through achievement: Many confuse their value with how much they do or provide.
  • “We make a fundamental mistake in that we think how I perform here is who I am.” (08:46)
• Spiritual roots of busyness: Particularly in Christian families, there’s often a subtle pressure to appear perfect; nourishing everyone but themselves leads to exhaustion.
• Disappearance of embodied habits: Protestantism’s focus on the heart sometimes means loss of valuable rituals or physical practices that integrate body and soul.

3. Habits Shape the Heart (10:38–12:07)

• Heart vs Habits: Knowing the right things isn’t enough; our repeated behaviors form our true loves and values.
  • “[Y]our head can go one way, but when your habits go the other way, your heart tends to follow the habits.” (10:38)
• Embodied spirituality, practical routines: How we use technology, eat, interact, and rest are all deeply spiritual acts.

4. The Crisis of Sleep, Insomnia, and Rest (12:07–19:30)

• Insomnia as a Spiritual Crisis: Justin describes how believing he was “limitless”—trying to outwork God—led to his body breaking down:
  • “I literally thought that I was God. And unsurprisingly, that physical mistake...made my body implode.” (12:33)
• Practical changes that restored sleep:
  • No phone before bed and first thing in the morning.
  • Surrounding sleep with prayer.
  • Creating a calm, predictable routine.
• Positive impact of rest: Rested people are more productive, joyful, and present.
  • “Sleep researchers tend to call sleep emotional therapy...It’s the one time your body is not producing the stress chemical...” (17:39)

5. Information Overload, Disembodied Relationships, and Loneliness (19:30–29:56)

• Smartphones and limits: The illusion of being able to know/care/solve everything. Dangers of exceeding our neurological capacities for relationships and empathy.
  • “When we hear of a disembodied person...we, the other them or friend them to simplify the relationship to ourselves and then either hate them or love them accordingly.” (22:36)
• Importance of local, embodied connections: Being physically present with real people offers nourishment social media can’t.
  • “Think about technological interactions as snacks and think about embodied relationships as nourishing meals.” (27:36)
• Community as the foundation of health: The Harvard study on longevity shows relationships are the #1 factor in a long, healthy life. (26:08)

6. Body Teaches the Soul: Awareness, Embodiment, and Spiritual Healing (29:56–34:01)

• Lesson from crisis: The body will “teach” the soul when we listen. When we unplug, are in nature, rest, read fiction, build routines—our health improves dramatically.
• No simple solution: There’s no pill or supplement that replaces the restorative power of embodied rhythm and Sabbath.
  • “There isn’t a pill to give you sleep back; there isn’t a pill that can do what exercise does for you.” (34:01)

7. Sabbath, Limitation, and the Gift of Rest (36:49–41:24; 52:51–60:05)

• Why is Sabbath so hard?: Our reluctance to embrace rest is rooted in the idolatry of wanting to be in control—like God.

  • “Sabbath and rest are hard because they require us to totally turn around and say, I'm gonna stop.” (36:49)

• Justin’s Sabbath discipline: 24-hour block each week (no work email, no production, no screens).

• Freedom through discipline: True freedom comes from “guardrails”—healthy limitations (e.g., sleep routines, scheduled time for friendship).

  • “Freedom is not doing whatever you want...Freedom is coming from putting the right limitations, the right guardrails in place.” (55:01)

• Sabbath as a gift and not a legalistic requirement: Motivated not for God’s love, but because of it.

  • “Your habits won’t change God’s love for you, but God’s love for you should change your habits.” (58:06)

8. Practical Family Habits and Habits of Love (45:13–51:32)

• Top three habits for a healthy Christian household:

  1. Scripture before phone: Begin each day with God’s word, not digital input.
  2. Bedtime liturgies/praying with kids: Use everyday routines as chances to affirm love and grace.
     • “Do you know I love you no matter what bad things you do?... Who else loves you like that? And they say, God does.” (45:13)
  3. Pause prayers before conflict: A habit of briefly praying before entering moments of family tension to interrupt old reactive habits.

• Habits should replace, not just restrict: It's more effective to start new routines than try to “not do” old ones.

9. Technology as Double-Edged Sword and Parenting for Flourishing (65:13–67:19)

• Technology and kids: Don’t give children smartphones/social media until at least 10th grade (Hang 10 movement).
• Formational analog habits for children: Sports, reading, in-person friendships, and journaling are crucial for healthy identity and resilience.

10. Lament and Hope: Processing Pain in a Broken World (67:19–72:29)

• The necessity of lament: Embracing grief over illness, loss, and death, but always paired with hope in the resurrection.
  • “A real lament is not one that doesn’t have hope in it. Like, lament without hope is despair, nihilism. A Christian lament is…I'm going to hope in the great news of the world to come.” (67:19)
• Repentance and humility: Balancing hopeful habits with honest recognition of pain and wrongdoing.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the power of habit:
  “Your habits won’t change God’s love for you, but God’s love for you should change your habits.” —Justin Earley (58:06)

• On sleep and surrender:
  “Sleep is a gift… You cannot with the land, with your body, with your health, with everything. You can't really force it, but you can make your body conducive to receiving the miracle of it.” —Justin Earley (14:24)

• On community vs. technology:
  “Think about technological interactions as snacks and think about embodied relationships as nourishing meals. You know the difference...” —Justin Earley (27:36)

• On limitations and flourishing:
  “Freedom is...putting the right limitations, the right guardrails in place.” —Justin Earley (55:01)

• On Sabbath:
  “I'm not going to Sabbath so that God loves me. I'm on a Sabbath because God loves me. This is a totally different motivation. You act because of love, not in order to get love.” —Justin Earley (58:06)

• On the integration of body and soul:
  “Your body and spirit, don't ignore it, don't idolize it. Realize you need spiritual and physical disciplines. You are a body of dust with a spirit of life breathed in by God.” —Justin Earley (31:44)

• On lament:
  “A real lament is not one that doesn’t have hope in it. Lament without hope is despair...A Christian lament is…the idea of, I'm going to be sad...but hope in what God is doing in you and what he is doing in the world.” —Justin Earley (67:19–72:29)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Justin’s personal crash & the start of his journey: 04:00–06:58
• The busyness trap and identity: 07:39–10:01
• Habits shaping the heart: 10:38–12:07
• Root causes and solutions for insomnia: 12:07–19:30
• The ill effects of information overload & loneliness: 19:30–29:07
• Sabbath, rest, and healing: 36:49–41:24
• Top three family habits: 45:13–51:32
• Freedom through limitations: 55:01–56:03
• Viewpoint on Sabbath and spiritual motivation: 56:03–60:05
• Lament as spiritual practice: 67:19–72:29

Actionable Takeaways

• Prioritize a true 24-hour Sabbath as both spiritual and physical reset—use this time for rest, unplugging from work and screens, and relational activities.
• Replace reactive, unconscious routines (especially around technology and busyness) with intentional practices: start your day with scripture, introduce moments of prayer, and build in physical touch and presence with family.
• Schedule block time weekly for deep connection with friends.
• Choose embodied, local community over recurring digital “snacking.”
• Teach children resilient, analog habits and delay exposure to smartphones/social media as long as possible.
• Practice lament and repentance alongside hope, allowing space for honest emotion and spiritual humility.
• Remember: Replace unhealthy patterns with nourishing habits—cessation alone doesn’t work.

Resources and Further Connection

• Justin Whitmel Earley’s latest book:
  • The Body Teaches the Soul — Practical routines for spiritual and physical wholeness.
  • Habits of the Household — Rhythms for family flourishing.
• Find Justin:
  • Website: justinwhitmelearley.com
  • Instagram: @justinwhitmelearley

This episode is powerful inspiration for anyone struggling with exhaustion, seeking deeper rest, craving genuine relationships, or looking for practical steps to sync their spiritual, physical, and mental well-being. It’s a roadmap for living a more embodied, purpose-driven, and joy-filled life—one healthy habit at a time.