Dana Santas, known as the “Mobility Maker,” is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and mind-body coach in professional sports, and is the author of the book “Practical Solutions for Back Pain Relief.”
Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude, connection and celebration, but it can also be physically demanding and mentally draining. Hours of cooking, sitting at the table and navigating a full day of activity and socializing can leave you exhausted, bloated and stiff by evening.
Simple mind-body strategies woven throughout your day can help you avoid that fate, supporting your energy, digestion and nervous system from morning through bedtime.
The 12 tips below require no equipment and take just minutes each — but they can make the difference between ending your holiday depleted or refreshed.
Early morning: Set the foundation
1. Lay the groundwork with deep breathing: Before the day gets busy, spend a few minutes focused on establishing long, deep diaphragmatic breaths. You can do this before getting out of bed, seated in a chair, or lying on your back with knees bent in a breathing bridge.
Place your hands on your lower ribs to guide and monitor their movement. Inhale slowly through your nose, feeling your ribs expand outward. Then exhale fully, drawing your ribs back inward. Try to double the length of your exhale — if you inhale for four counts, exhale for eight.
Deep breathing with extended exhales activates your parasympathetic nervous system — your body’s “rest and digest” mode — and sets a calm, focused tone for the hours ahead.
2. Hydrate strategically: Reach for a glass of water before that first cup of coffee. Your body has been fasting all night, and starting with hydration helps you recover from overnight dehydration. Research shows that proper hydration supports cognitive function and energy levels, and plays an essential role in digestion.
Continue sipping water as you go about your morning tasks, especially if you’re drinking coffee or tea in large quantities, which can be dehydrating. If you plan on drinking alcohol later in the day, getting ahead on hydration early helps. Also try to drink a full glass of water for every cocktail or glass of wine you consume.
3. Move through a full-body mobility flow: Before you get into full swing in the kitchen, spend five minutes gently mobilizing your major joints with a quick yoga flow or by doing a few circles in each direction with your ankles, hips and arms and then rotating side to side through your mid-back.
Gently mobilize your major joints with a quick yoga flow before you dive into holiday cooking. – The Good Brigade/Digital Vision/Getty Images
Doing so primes your nervous system and lubricates your joints for the standing, lifting and sitting ahead. Think of it as warming up for an athletic event — because in many ways, Thanksgiving is like one.
Cooking: Avoid tension and injury in the kitchen
4. Build in kitchen stretches. Between tasks — while the potatoes boil or the pies bake — pause for 30-second stretches. Reach both arms overhead and lean gently side to side. Interlace your fingers behind your back and gently lift your hands to open your chest. Take a seat and place an ankle on top of your opposite thigh in a figure-four position and lean slightly forward to stretch your hip and low back.
Remember that breathing is your stress-relieving superpower, so breathe deeply through each stretch. These micro-breaks prevent the cumulative tension that comes from repetitive chopping, stirring and hovering over the stove.
5. Lift heavy items with intention: When you’re wrestling that 20-pound turkey out of the oven or moving a heavy stockpot, hinge at your hips rather than rounding your spine. Keep the load close to your body, engage your core and use your legs to generate force. Doing so distributes the work across larger muscle groups and protects your lower back from strain.
6. Check in with your body: Every time the kitchen timer goes off, use it as a reminder to scan your body for tension, imbalance and fatigue. Ding — the casserole is done? Great, take care of the food and then notice how you’re feeling. Are your shoulders creeping toward your ears? Your weight shifted into one hip? Your jaw clenched? Feet or lower back asking for a break?
Simply becoming aware of these sensations allows you to make small adjustments — whether that’s moving and stretching, shifting your weight, or taking a seat for a moment of deep breathing — that can prevent minor discomfort from becoming major.
Mealtime: Support your digestion
7. Take a premeal breathing pause: Just before eating, take five slow, intentional breaths. Follow this 5-7-3 pattern: Inhale for a count of five, exhale for a count of seven and pause for three counts after the exhale.
Again, breathing is transformative. It transitions your body into your nervous system’s parasympathetic mode, which optimizes digestive function and helps you eat more slowly and mindfully.
8. Eat with awareness: Put your fork down between bites. Chew thoroughly. Notice the flavors, textures and the point at which you feel satisfied rather than stuffed. Research shows that eating slowly reduces overall intake and improves digestion, helping you avoid the post-meal discomfort that can derail your evening. And especially if you spent all morning cooking, make sure you’re savoring what you created rather than rushing through it.
9. Move after eating: Within 20 minutes of finishing your meal, take a 10-minute walk, even if it’s just around the house or yard. Light movement supports digestion and reduces blood sugar spikes. If weather permits, consider getting everyone outside for a family activity such as a backyard kickball game — something that gets everyone moving together.
Even simple movements from the comfort of your couch will help. Try a seated pillow twist: Sit tall, squeezing a pillow between your knees and holding another pillow in your hands at chest height. Exhale as you rotate from your mid-back to the right side, touching the pillow to the couch seat as far behind you as you can reach. Inhale back to center and repeat on the other side. Alternate through 10 to 20 repetitions.
Evening: Wind down with intention
10. Create a simple wind-down ritual: After a day of hosting, cooking and socializing, your nervous system needs time to settle. An hour before bed, dim the lights and step away from screens. Consider a warm bath or light reading — anything that lowers stimulation and invites your nervous system to settle. This preparation for bed is considered a sleep hygiene practice. It’s something you should do every night but particularly after such a full day.
11. Release accumulated tension: Your body has been working hard all day. Practice a few bedtime yoga moves to help release any lingering discomfort and tightness in your back, hips and shoulders.
At the very least, unwind tension with a single-leg bent-knee twist on your bed: Lie on your back hugging both knees into your chest. Extend your right leg long on the bed and then take your left knee across your body to the right side, rotating from your mid-back to stack your hips. Reach your left arm out to the left to complete the twist. Take three long, deep breaths. Then repeat on the other side.
12. Ground your nervous system: End your day with progressive muscle relaxation combined with deep breathing. Starting at your feet and moving up through your body, cover each area: feet, lower legs, upper legs, hips and glutes, belly and low back, chest and upper back, hands, lower arms, upper arms, shoulders, neck, and face. Systematically inhale as you tense each muscle group for five seconds, then exhale deeply to release.
This body scan reinforces your mind-body connection, releases residual tension and promotes restorative sleep, so you can wake up ready to tackle Black Friday.
Thanksgiving can be demanding, but it doesn’t have to deplete you. By weaving small moments of breath, movement and awareness into your day, you’ll finish the holiday feeling lighter, more present and genuinely grateful — not just for the meal, but for the support and resilience of your own body.
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