Fun Thanksgiving Activities Proven to Relieve Stress, Soothe Pain and More
Turns out traditions like decorating and watching holiday movies can make you healthier
There’s so much to love about Thanksgiving, from sharing a big meal with family and friends to cuing up your favorite feel-good movies to baking your famous pumpkin pie. And now, research shows your favorite Thanksgiving activities are actually a boon for your health. Keep reading to see how the treasured traditions you love can bolster your wellbeing.
Thanksgiving activities to ease aches
If the hustle and bustle of hosting Thanksgiving dinner leaves you a little sore, try these simple, seasonal fixes:
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Watch Thanksgiving movies
Enjoying a Thanksgiving-themed flick, such as A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving or Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, can quash pain and limber you up more quickly and effectively than painkillers can, North Carolina’s Wake Forest University research suggests. That’s because the relaxation and contentment that you feel when you’re enjoying a familiar, feel-good movie prompts your brain to release powerful pain-killing hormones called endogenous opioids.
Add seasonal touches
Bring out your favorite holiday decorations and you could feel fewer aches. Scientists reporting in The Journal of Neuroscience say gazing at objects that bring back happy memories energizes a brain region that makes pain threshold soar. And you could start feeling relief within just 15 minutes.
Thanksgiving activities to relieve stress
To enjoy the holiday stress-free, try these tension-taming tips:
Give thanks
You don’t have to wait until you’re sitting around the holiday dinner table to give thanks. University of Indianapolis scientists say spending 2 minutes each day thinking about the blessings in your life could make chronic stress plunge in one week. Even brief moments of gratitude stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, a branch of nerves that relaxes tense muscles, lowers blood pressure and dials down the body’s release of stress hormones.
Touch your heart
If you feel your stress levels creeping up while trying to prep for the holiday, pause for a moment to think of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions while breathing deeply. Simply rest your right hand over your heart and your left hand on your belly while you take slow, deep breaths and focus on something positive. This simple relaxation technique can help you feel noticeably more calm in 20 seconds, German research reveals. Why? This type of touch activates skin nerves that tamp down stress-hormone release.
Thanksgiving activities to rev your energy
If you’re anything like us, you find Thanksgiving day fun but draining. To help keep your energy up so you can enjoy the holiday to the fullest, try these stamina-boosting tricks:
Savor your favorite sides
Whether you enjoy buttery sweet potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts or green bean casserole, digging into festive sides helps you stay energized and alert. Spanish scientists say these tasty treats contain plant compounds called carotenoids that help the body burn fats to produce energy. Plus, carotenoids improve communication between brain cells to sharpen focus.
Slip on a festive sweater
Donning your favorite sweater, wrap or fuzzy socks boosts your focus by as much as 52 percent, suggests a Columbia University study. The study authors explain that keeping warm maximizes oxygen-rich blood flow to brain and muscle cells.
Write out notes
Once you’ve planned a Thanksgiving trip or activity, put a cheery note on your refrigerator to remind you of the upcoming event. A study in the journal Behavioral Sciences suggests regularly seeing happy reminders energizes a brain region that helps you stay clear headed and focused.
Thanksgiving activities to prevent holiday blues
Everything from shorter days to missing long-distance family members can leave us feeling a little blue this time of year. The good news? These simple Thanksgiving activities are guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Tune into the football game
Thanksgiving and football go hand-in-hand for many folks in the United States. But whatever sport you love to watch, simply tuning in a few times each month to cheer on your favorite team could prevent blah moods over the busy holiday season, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The experts explain that watching others compete—whether you buy tickets and drive to the stadium or just relax on your comfy couch and turn on the TV—stimulates a key area of the brain known as the reward circuit. This keeps your mood steady and maximizes happiness and optimism. And the results last. The investigators found that when you regularly watch sports, you increase the amount of gray matter in this key brain region, which spurs lasting positivity.
Sip a cuppa
Whether you love black, green or a festive chai tea, sipping two mugs of your favorite brew daily could help you stay 35 percent cheerier all season long. Researchers reporting in the journal Food Science and Human Wellness say that tea’s polyphenols soak easily into brain cells, where they act as powerful natural antidepressants.
Thanksgiving activities to boost your immunity
Who wants to spent the holiday battling a cold or flu? Not us! These natural immune system boosters help you stay healthy this Thanksgiving,
Gather with friends and family
You’d think avoiding people would be the key to staying healthy during cold and flu season. But it turns out gathering plenty of family and friends at your Thanksgiving table bolsters immunity. A review in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that regularly spending time with others energizes virus-killing white blood cells, helping them find and destroy invaders more quickly. Enjoy happy holiday gatherings with your favorite people and experts say you’ll heighten your defenses against winter illnesses and bounce back faster if you’re already under the weather.
Take time to unwind
Sneak away from the holiday hubbub and spend 30 minutes each day relaxing in your favorite calm, quiet space. This mini dose of “me time” helps prevent colds, the flu and other illnesses. Chinese investigators found that when stress levels plunge, the immune system increases its production of proteins that stop viruses from multiplying and spreading.
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