The Body Teaches the Soul

Ten Essential Habits to Form a Healthy and Holy Life

By: Justin Whitmel Earley

Narrated by: Justin Earley, Lauren Earley

Read by the author.

Your body is more spiritual than you think.

How can we preach a gospel of peace, yet still find our bodies wracked by anxiety? How do we call our bodies temples of the Holy Spirit, yet regard eating, exercise, or sleep as inherently "unspiritual" activities? How is it that modern Christians who claim God made their bodies have come to care so little about them?

Justin Whitmel Earley--bestselling author of The Common Rule and Habits of the Household--is intimately familiar with the consequences of ignoring the body. As a young lawyer, Earley collapsed into anxiety and insomnia that nearly ruined his life. In his journey back to mental and spiritual health, he realized that the healthy and unhealthy habits shaping his life weren't physical or spiritual; they were physical and spiritual.

The Body Teaches the Soul is a practical guide to the union of body and spirit in our overall health. With his characteristic vulnerability and story-driven approach, Earley shares personal failures, fascinating research, and biblical wisdom to reveal ten simple habits that will improve your health and deepen your relationship with God. In these pages, you will:

• Connect deeply and positively with your body as the image of God while avoiding the mistakes of ignoring or idolizing the body
• Explore how daily patterns of healthy eating can be as spiritual as fasting and how rhythms of feasting can become guilt-free celebrations of the world God made
• Recover your mental health through upper-brain spiritual truths that work together with lower-brain physical practices to reshape thought patterns
• Develop a sleep routine that honors your body's need for rest and your soul's need for sabbath
• Discover how to lament sickness and injury while still praying with hope for the miracle of healing
• Learn how exercise can create a humble lifestyle of loving others with your body instead of becoming a vain search for body image

Earley is not a health guru telling you how to get in shape; he is the ordinary Christian's guide to rediscovering the extraordinary gift of the body and the spiritual life that flows from it. Join this journey of wonder and well-being to reconnect with your whole self and repattern your whole life in the image of the God who made you and loves you as you are--body and soul.

Visuals and reference materials can be found in the audiobook companion PDF download.

Excellent Book. Excellent Author.

Justin absolutely nailed it with this book again. I’m so thankful God graced you with the knowledge to write this book.

Another banger

JWE once again writes a book that pierces straight to my soul. Thankful for his obedience in authorship and sharing his journey. I also loved the female perspective with his wife sharing her point of view on these topics.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in spiritual growth, healing, or a more holistic faith journey.

The Body Teaches the Soul is a profoundly moving and beautifully narrated audiobook that invites the listener into a deeper, more integrated understanding of faith, healing, and embodiment. From the very beginning, it challenges the tendency to separate the spiritual from the physical and instead offers a compelling vision of how our bodies actively participate in spiritual formation.

The audiobook format is especially powerful. The narration is calm, thoughtful, and reverent, making it feel less like a lecture and more like a guided spiritual retreat. Listening allows the insights to settle not just intellectually, but emotionally and physically, reinforcing the book’s central message that the body is not a distraction from spiritual life—it is a teacher within it.

What makes this audiobook exceptional is its accessibility paired with depth. Complex ideas around trauma, habits, and spiritual growth are communicated with clarity, compassion, and humility. The reflections are practical, grounded, and deeply pastoral, offering listeners tangible ways to become more attentive to their bodies as sacred spaces of learning, prayer, and transformation.

This is an audiobook I found myself wanting to pause, replay, and sit with—often noticing my own breathing, posture, and internal responses as part of the experience. It gently reshapes how you listen to yourself, to others, and to God.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in spiritual growth, healing, or a more holistic faith journey. The Body Teaches the Soul is not just something you listen to—it’s something you experience.

Amazing book so far!!!

I have loved and learned so much from any of Justin’s books that I’ve read over the years. This is no exception- I’m 2 chapters in (have been counting down til the book released today!) and have recommended to others already. I love that the authors humble and allows for readers to make their own practical take-away from the books. His voice is calming and enjoyable to listen to. Eager to finish!

Another Great Book by the author.

I loved everything in this book. The resurrection chapter was very interesting. Definitely gave me a lot to think about and new habits to implement. Thankful for this read.