Rest is Holy: Why Sleep Matters More Than You Think

“Our bodies are so fearfully and wonderfully made. And there's a lot of work that goes on during sleep. And when we try to skip that, our bodies don't function properly and neither do our minds.”

Feb 04, 2026

Are you exhausted, overwhelmed, or struggling to get good sleep—no matter what you try?

Join me on the podcast for a conversation with Dr. Vickie Kasper, a former OB-GYN who delivered over 5,000 babies before a rare neuromuscular disease abruptly forced her to stop, surrender control, and learn how to truly rest.

Through her powerful testimony and medical expertise, Dr. Vickie explains why sleep is not optional—and how God designed rest to be essential for healing the brain, body, and soul.

Below is a snippet of our conversation. If you prefer listening, you can listen to/watch the full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Why is rest so important?

Well, obviously it’s important from a spiritual standpoint. The Lord says, ‘Be still and know.’ And if we’re not ever still, we’re not gonna know. And I’ve experienced that in so many seasons of my life and that’s still something I struggle with. I always say, ‘Don’t ask me about rest cause I don’t know a thing in the world about it.’ I had to be forced to rest.

But in my podcast, because it’s medical, I really focus on sleep. And I think a lot of people can’t sleep because they can’t turn off their mind. And the reason they can’t turn off their mind at night is because they’ve never turned off their mind during the day.

And so if we constantly have our wheels spin – I say it’s like a cotton candy machine in my head that just picks up sticky junk every time it swirls around – and if we never utilize the practice of putting our mind in neutral during the day, we’re not gonna be able to do that at night.

And so I really approach sleep mostly from a medical standpoint. The only thing that I really talk to people about from a spiritual standpoint is a lot of people when they can’t sleep, they pray, but they pray about their problems. And all that does is put the focus back on ourselves, back on our problems.

So one thing I suggest to people is to switch that from prayer to praise therapy. And that is: tell God who He is. And I’m pretty sure He already knows, but some of us need a reminder.

And so I just try to give people those tools of the names of God: You are my rock, You are my fortress, You are my shelter, You are everything I need. Instead of focusing on ourselves. And I think that that is helpful for some people…to help them rest and sleep in the sovereignty of God.

How can we give our brain a rest during the day?

Well, it’s not easy. But again, I’m gonna kind of divide it up into spiritual and physical, which are not divisible because they’re interconnected. But spiritually, I think having our quiet time, you know, just going before the Lord and not just talking to Him, but trying to listen to Him as well. I think nature does really help with that.

And again, my testimony is very much rooted in nature. So I think being outside and walking and just appreciating the beauty of God’s creation helps to your mind in neutral. And there are medical studies that show that. I mean, nature is a natural stress reliever and it is a natural mood booster. And it’s because it is the evidence of God’s creation.

I think from a medical standpoint, I think about activities that require you to focus on something that’s not mentally taxing, but it’s more physically taxing. So the example I would give is maybe a step class. If you don’t focus on your feet, you’re probably gonna fall on your face.

So, you know, for me it was riding bikes. I could think the best when I was riding bikes because all I could think is breathe, pedal, breathe, pedal, you know, and just doing something physically exerting that also requires some coordination to put your mind in neutral.

And the other thing, which I think is super important, is to not let your mind go in a loop. Because when you think the same thoughts over and over and over, it creates a literal neural pathway in your brain. And it’s like a slide, it just gets easier and easier to go down that same route.

So people who are prone to worry and anxiety, I always say, at least try to worry in a straight line and don’t worry in a circle, move on to something else. That loop is self-reinforcing and it’s harmful.

How can we break negative thought loops?

Well, you want to know what works best for me? I say, Stop it! And sometimes I say it out loud: stop it! And it’s just a conscientious effort, you know, because if I tell you, ‘Don’t think about a red hat,’ then all you can think about is a red hat. So you can’t just force yourself to stop having those thoughts.

But literally saying ‘stop it,’ whether it’s out loud or not, it sort of interrupts the cycle. And then I think about the verse: ‘Think about things that are true and noble and lovely’ — and you have to take every thought captive.

And if you think about a captive, you take your eye off a captive and they make a run for it. And so it’s choosing what you’re going to fill your mind with and trying to control your thoughts instead of letting your thoughts control you.

It’s a discipline and it’s also almost like a muscle. You know, the way your muscles get toned and big is repetition. And so you might be able to control your thoughts for a minute or two and then you build on that.

Why is sleep so important for our brain?

There is so much work that goes on in our brains. We process our fears in our amygdala. And if you don’t process your fears, that’s gonna lead to more and more chronic anxiety, worry, and stress, and even depression.

You process your memories. We see and hear, we read things all day long, we smell things all day long. We are experiencing things all day long, we can’t retain all of that.

And so what happens when we sleep is our brain is like sorting mail. It’s saying, we’re going to keep that, we’ll get rid of that, that’s trash, you know, we might need to hang onto this.

And if you don’t get into those deeper stages of sleep, then you get overwhelmed because you haven’t processed everything that you’ve experienced during the day. I think those are two big things.

And they do occur in the later stages of sleep. That first stage of sleep is when you’re just drifting off and you’re kind of almost conscious, but you’re not really. And then you go into that second stage, it’s called N3, which is deep sleep. And then REM, which is the next one, which everybody’s familiar with, because that’s when you dream.

And we go through about five or seven cycles a night. And so one thing I would tell people is it’s very common to even wake up during those five to seven cycles and change positions and adjust the covers and go back to sleep. That is normal. And so many people are like, I’m awake. I’ll never go back to sleep. And that’s self-defeating.

But also there is a fluid system in our brain called the glymphatic system. And it literally clears away toxins and proteins that build up. And so when that’s not clearing away, it increases the risk for all kinds of things: dementia, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, certain types of cancer have been linked to poor sleep, type two diabetes and obesity.

And so our bodies are so fearfully and wonderfully made. And there’s a lot of work that goes on during sleep. And when we try to skip that, our bodies don’t function properly and neither do our minds.

So, here’s the million dollar question: how can we get good sleep?

You know, I talk a lot about sleep on my podcast and I actually even have a digital course on sleep and it has six different modules and they’re on six different things.

And one thing that I have learned in listening to people is that there’s not one answer because some people may struggle with their body not being comfortable. Some people may struggle with not being able to turn off their mind. Other people have a poor diet. They don’t get enough exercise during the day, they don’t have good habits.

But I always start my course or any teaching or coaching that I’m doing with the foundation of building good habits, which doesn’t have anything to do with sleep. It has to do with everything – lifestyle, spiritual discipline, and anything else.

So I always start by building on setting goals and having a mission statement and being intentional about your journey — that I am here and I want to go here and now I’ve got to build the steps to go there. But the steps may look different for people depending on where they are.

So if I had a million dollar question, it would be this: good sleep starts in the morning when you wake up. Because everything you do all day long affects your body and your ability to sleep at night. And your sleep at night is preparing you to wake up the next day. So it’s a little reverse in thinking.

What advice do you have for people who want to get better sleep or build better habits but don’t know where to start?

Well, again, I think it has to do with having a clear goal because so many people will say, ‘Well, I want to get healthy.’ And they don’t really have any why behind that, which means they don’t have any motivation behind it.

Now, if you said, you know, I feel bad and I don’t have any energy and I can’t play with my kids and I want to go on a healthier diet so that I have energy so that I can play with my kids or serve others or whatever God’s called you to do. If you can connect your why with your goal, that gives you the impetus to push further along.

But that goal needs to be very specific. I’m a big believer in SMART goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound. And I think without that, everybody’s like, oh, I just want to lose weight. Well, you know, what does that mean? How you will know when you have arrived at a destination? You have to have a clear destination.

And so again, with my sleep stuff even, I talk to people about why do you want to sleep? What is your goal? Do you want to sleep eight hours a night? Why? Is it because you have dementia in your family and you’re afraid that’s a risk factor and you want to preserve your brain? That’s a good motivator.

Or is it because you have a job or a project that you want to do that requires clear thinking during the day? It’s a specific thing that you can tie to your goal that moves you forward.

What role does our identity play in building healthier habits?

I think one thing that kind of can be a seismic shift is an identity shift. And so somebody that thinks of themselves as a healthy eater, if they walk into the convenience store, they’re not going to go pick up a bag of potato chips because it doesn’t fit with their identity.

And so I think small steps can help you get to that identity, but embracing a new identity can help you make more seismic shifts too.

I mean, our identity is how we see ourselves and how we think of ourselves and who we think we are. Even with our Christian walk, there are certain things that we think of that reflect Christ and things that don’t. And so if we identify as a Christian, then there are certain things we’re gonna do, certain things we’re not gonna do.

It’s the same thing for fitness or diet or sleep or stress management. Some people literally identify as a stressed out person. Like, oh, I’m overwhelmed. I’m so busy. I’m so this, I’m so that. Well, yeah. And you’re gonna continue to be that because you have that is part of your identity.

Not that you can wave a magic wand and go, oh, I’m just gonna be all peaceful and calm now. But you can take those steps and move in that direction to become a different person. Just like we do in our Christian walk. We just try to reflect who Christ is.

If we can catch a glimpse of the transformation and visualize what that would look like in our lives, it’s easier for us to move towards that.

And it’s also comfortable. Like your identity is comfortable, right? You’re comfortable in your own skin. Like if you’ve always been kind of a worrier, then that’s comfortable for you. It’s like, that’s what I do. I just obsess over the same thing over and over and over. I’m a worrier.

And the thing is we say that out loud. You know, we say out loud: this is who I am. And like I said, you can’t turn it off. It’s not a switch. But are you reinforcing the person that you want to become or are you reinforcing the person you don’t want to be?

Listen to or watch the full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Thank you for being here,

Katharine

P.S. Eternal Echoes is free today. But if you’d like to partner with me in passing on faith and wisdom to future generations, I’d be so grateful if you consider supporting my work. I thank you truly, kindly and sincerely.

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