I have been sharing holiday-themed workouts for years but this Thanksgiving I want to deepen my workout offering to include not only the physical body but mind and spirit as well.
Most of you have shared with me in the past that you enjoy getting a good workout in on Thanksgiving morning before you spend the rest of the day enjoying food and family. Many of you even make the workout part of the day a family affair. I had so many people tell me they did last year’s Thanksgiving workout with their loved ones. And I love that!
This year I challenge you to add a deeper “spiritual workout” to your Thanksgiving Day by including some gratitude exercises, both solo and with your friends and family. Thanksgiving and gratitude go hand-in-hand but today it seems more important than ever to ground ourselves in gratitude and also to connect with others in a spirit of gratitude.
May I present to you my Thanksgiving Workout Guide: Body, Mind and Spirit!
BODY
I programmed a 30-minute bodyweight workout for you guys! You’ll warm up with a one-mile run or a half-mile speed walk and then move into two big sets of strength and cardio work. There are five exercises in each block. Do all five in a row for 60 seconds each exercise and then repeat the circuit again from start to finish. Take a 1-2 minute break after you finish set one before moving on to set two.
I made timed the work intervals instead of assigning reps so that you can work at your own pace. This way your loved ones can work alongside you at their own level of intensity but everyone is getting a good sweat together.
Here are a few options for increasing intensity:
- Add a second run before set two.
- Add the second run AND add a third run after your complete set two. Try to pick up the pace of each run so each one is faster than the last.
- Add a third round of work to each set.
As always, let me know if you have questions and I feedback if you try it. Looking for more bodyweight workouts? Click here for a bunch of them! 🙂
MIND AND SPIRIT
Here are a few options for adding a spiritual workout element to your Thanksgiving celebration. Pick the one that resonates most with you.
1. Thanksgiving Solo Gratitude Meditation
Find a comfortable seat, close your eyes and take a deep breath in and a deep exhale out. Sit quietly for 5-10 minutes and bring to mind all the things you feel grateful for and say silent thank yous while staying connected to deep, steady, even-count inhales and exhales. Your gratitude list might include anything from your own health to your relationships to your community to nature sounds around you or anything else!
2. Thanksgiving Guided Gratitude Meditation
Meditation on Gratitude and Joy from Jack Kornfield (written script)
Guided Meditation on Gratitude with Deepak Chopra (audio)
A Three-Minute Gratitude Meditation with Agapi Stassinopoulos
3. Thanksgiving Gratitude Letter
Write a thank you letter to someone who you are feeling extra grateful for. It could be a casual acquaintance or co-worker who went out of their way to do something nice for you, a family member or loved one, a member of your local fire/police/etc or anyone else!
4. Thanksgiving Round Table
One of my favorite things to do at Thanksgiving dinner is go around the table and have each person share something they’re feeling thankful for. It’s a nice way to start out a meal and get everyone in a good and positive heartspace.
5. Keep a gratitude journal for someone.
I’ve shared this before but one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever received is a gratitude journal. The idea is that you keep a journal for someone who is special to you where you write an entry each day expressing your gratitude for them. You can set an amount of time to do this like 30 days, 50 days, 100 days, 365 days. This exercise deepens your gratitude practice by reminding you each day to look at all the positive things about your relationship with someone rather than the lacks and is an incredible gift for the person you are keeping it for.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! xx
I love this! Love that it’s more than just body, but thinking about your mind and thankfulness too. So clever. Happy Thanksgiving!
Loved this post! I’m Canadian so we’ve already celebrated our Thanksgiving, but I’m definitely going to take advantage of American Thanksgiving so I can complete this workout tomorrow! The meditation sounds lovely as well and it’s something I really want to incorporate into my life. Enjoy your Thanksgiving 🙂
Lovely suggestions! Holidays can take such an emotional and mental toll so I really like the idea of refocusing on gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was looking for workout inspiration on Thanksgiving morning and immediately knew where to turn… PBR! This workout did not disappoint. I appreciated the added options to increase intensity (I opted for a 1 mile run after each set) as it perfectly capped off my sweat-before-cooking (and eating!) all. the. things. 🙂 I also appreciated the mindfulness aspect. It’s always a good reminder to take care of the whole being! Thanks, Jenn!