Anxiety, Faith, and Your Nervous System with Justin Whitmel Earley

The Alli Worthington Show

Alli Worthington

Education, Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 646 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Join Alli’s Intern Program - https://alliworthington.com/interns Today I’m talking with Justin Whitmel Earley about his new book, The Body Teaches the Soul. This conversation will challenge how you think about spiritual growth, especially if faith feels disconnected from your daily life. If peace feels distant and faith remains in your head, stay with me. Maybe you’re doing all the “right” things: praying, reading your Bible, and showing up sincerely. Yet your shoulders stay tight, your mind won’t slow down, and anxiety lingers, despite your efforts. Justin clarifies that true spiritual experience is shaped by your physical actions, not just beliefs. He shares two essential daily practices for unlocking concrete spiritual transformation. If you’ve ever felt spiritually “off” but can’t quite name it, this episode will give you practical tools and language to identify what’s missing. You’ll gain concrete, actionable steps for connecting your faith to your daily life, so you can finally experience greater clarity, relief, and a deeper sense of peace. Timestamps: (08:08) - How Movement and Exercise Shape Our Souls, Not Just Our Bodies (10:50) - Why Anxiety Often Lives in the Body Before the Mind Ever Notices (14:44) - Why Breathing Might Be One of the Most Spiritual Practices You’re Ignoring (22:58) - How Technology Is Quietly Rewiring Our Bodies (and Not in a Good Way) (26:11) - The Surprisingly Powerful Habit of Turning Your Phone Off for One Hour WATCH ALLI ON YOUTUBE Links to great things we discussed: The Body Teaches The Soul Justin’s Song Recommendation - Honey by The Lone Bellow Justin’s TV Recommendation - Silo Justin’s Product Recommendation - Flask Coffee Press Maker Justin’s Book Recommendations - Dopamine Nation & Demon Cooperhead Wise Woman Era The Uplift app is here! Try it free for 30 days I hope you loved this episode! 🎉 Don't forget to hit that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so you’re always in the loop. And hey, while you're at it, why not pop over to our YouTube channel and check us out? If you're feeling the love, leave a review and sprinkle some stars—your support truly means the world to me! Take care, and keep shining bright! xo, Alli

Transcript

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0:00.0	And so we've got, you know, all this increasing data to show that your body was made to flourish through two things, a relationship with God and a relationship with other people.
0:11.0	Welcome back. Today I'm talking with Justin Whitmill early about his new book, The Body Teaches the Soul. And this
0:21.8	conversation just could challenge everything you thought about how faith actually works with your
0:26.7	physical body. Maybe you're praying and you're reading your Bible and you're showing up for your
0:31.3	spiritual disciplines, but you're still walking around with tension in your chest, or erasing mind
0:36.4	that you can't quiet, or maybe a low-grade
0:38.9	anxiety that won't let you go no matter how much you surrender to God, this conversation is going to
0:45.0	shift something fundamental. Justin and I get into why your body might be undermining your
0:49.8	spiritual growth without you realizing it. The sneaky ways anxiety can live in your nervous system
0:55.3	and not just your thoughts and how two of the most boring practices that you might not even think about
1:01.7	could be some of the most powerful things in your arsenal. If you've ever felt like you're doing
1:06.6	everything right spiritually, but something's just a little off and you can't quite put your
1:11.7	finger on it, this episode's for you. But first, I want to share. Okay, let's dive in with my friend
1:20.0	Justin. Justin, welcome back to the show. I love your new book. I love the content of your
1:26.9	new book. I want to get into everything. But before we
1:29.9	talk about everything that you have to teach us, I want to know what it was like for you as a writer
1:36.3	figuring out that this was your new topic. Did your life fall apart? Did you think that you
1:43.2	were an expert and you were going to teach other people?
1:45.7	Because I find it's either one or the other. So what happened to you? Well, my life did fall apart,
1:50.3	but that was almost a decade ago. And this is kind of reexamining what happened and why
1:56.0	physical rhythms seem so spiritual to me now. So for the background, for anybody who doesn't know me,
2:03.8	is I am a full-time business lawyer who used to be a missionary in China. And it was in that
	...

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