Thanksgiving Day is a time to bask in the blessings of the past year—a bountiful harvest, family, friends, health, and community. It’s a time to swap your to-do list for a gratitude list, make traditional family recipes, try new ones, and gather with loved ones.
Like any holiday, it’s easy to get caught up in the stress-inducing details that can keep you from simply enjoying the special day. How do you navigate holiday traffic and busy airports? Which placemats, napkins, silverware, or serving dishes should you use? How should you assemble a crowd-pleasing feast for a plethora of palates and dietary restrictions? How can you be a good listener and a compassionate conversationalist? Fret not! It is possible—and easier than you may think—to table your holiday-induced worries and tap into the true meaning of this holiday: kindness and sharing.
To that end, we’ve put together a game plan to bring the lifestyle habits of the world’s healthiest, happiest people to your Thanksgiving gathering. Read on for a menu of activities inspired by the Blue Zones lifestyle that you and your moai can turn to on Thanksgiving Day and throughout the year.
Move Naturally Activities: Nudge Your Body Into Movement
Our bodies are built to move. The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons, or join gyms. Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about it. Here are five ways to get your body moving on Thanksgiving Day.
Take an evening stroll
Gather your Thanksgiving moai (plus any furry family members) for a stroll around the neighborhood after your holiday meal or gathering. This Italian practice, known as “passeggiata,” both aids in digestion and sets a relaxed tone for the rest of the day.
Make food prep and clean-up fun and communal
Natural movement, such as meal preparation and dishwashing, count as exercise, too. If you are hosting, don’t be shy about delegating age and ability-appropriate cooking and clean-up tasks to others. Cooking and cleaning together can transform the kitchen into the heart of the home. Plus, the host will wake up to a cleaner, stress-free kitchen.
Play fetch
Toss a ball with your dog in the backyard or take your furry friend for a walk.
Practice floor sitting
Okinawan households have very little furniture; residents take meals and relax on tatami mats on the floor instead of armchairs. Okinawan elders sit and get up from the floor dozens or hundreds of times per day. The practice of floor sitting may feel a little uncomfortable at first, but trust us–Blue Zones research has shown that floor sitting builds lower body strength and balance, which helps protect against dangerous falls. Try setting up floor cushions or comfy pillows in an area of the home where guests can play games, strum instruments, or simply converse.
Move with your community
Participate in an organized Thanksgiving Day walk or run in your town, or go for a hike, bike ride, or run on your favorite neighborhood route—or try a new one.
Downshift and Connect Activities: Less Stress, More Joy
Stress leads to chronic inflammation, associated with every major age-related disease. People in the blue zones experience stress, too, but what the world’s longest-lived people have that we don’t are routines to shed that stress. Here are eight ways you can downshift on Thanksgiving Day.
Play games
Playing games like chess, cards, or board games with friends and family members is a great way to connect, especially across generations. If you are hosting a crowd, consider asking guests to bring their favorite games with them or gather a few of your favorites and set them up beforehand so that they are ready to go when the time strikes.
Plan a Thanksgiving playlist
It’s no secret that music can soothe the soul and set a relaxing tone for guests. If you’re hosting, plan ahead by picking out a playlist of background tunes so you don’t have to fuss with any devices during mealtime. Then, after dinner, turn up the volume and dance to your favorite song.
Take time before your meal to share gratitude or pray
One idea to get everyone involved is to create a “gratitude pumpkin” together by having each guest jot down a word or phrase about something they are grateful for on a pumpkin with a Sharpie marker or paint pen. No pumpkin? No problem. Alternatively, you could place paper cut-outs shaped like leaves near each place setting for guests to write on.
Remember your ancestors
Okinawans take a few moments each day to remember their ancestors. You can honor your ancestors on Thanksgiving by displaying framed photographs of family members who have passed, re-creating family recipes, or sharing the stories behind dishes, serving pieces, or cookware that have been handed down from one generation to the next. Feeling crafty? Ask guests to sign their autograph on the tablecloth; later, you can embroider over each signature so that they last for years for future generations.
Watch a movie together
Do as the Swedes do on “fredagsmys” and cozy up on the couch to watch TV or a feel-good, family-friendly movie together.
Give yourself permission to nap
A 20-minute power nap can lower your risk of heart disease by about 30%. Prioritizing sleep is nothing new to centenarians in blue zones regions. As the world’s longest-living population, centenarians are adamant about getting adequate sleep every day, which is aligned with their slower pace of living. A hurried life is a recipe for stress and chronic disease. For centenarians, slow living—with plenty of rest and activities to support reducing stress—prolongs their longevity.
A 20-minute power nap can lower your risk of heart disease by about 30%. Prioritizing sleep is nothing new to centenarians in blue zones regions. Share on XCreate a “pride shrine” in your home
Thanksgiving morning is a perfect time to assemble (or add to) a “pride shrine” in your home, a place in your house that you pass a lot, where you put items that trigger pleasant memories and positive emotions. Creating a pride shrine can increase happiness, according to Ed Diener, one of the leading pioneers in scientific research on happiness for the past 25 years. Here’s how to do it: Take one area in your house, ideally a well-trafficked area, maybe between your bedroom and your bathroom. Create a pride shrine of pictures that trigger positive memories — pictures of your kids when they were young, a remembrance of a parent or a grandparent, pictures of your favorite vacation spot, your diplomas, or articles that you’ve liked that spark joy. Anything that makes you feel pride in something that you’ll see several times a day–because when it comes to happiness, one important component is to feel the sum of joyful moments day to day. You can set up your house so you’ll feel more of those.
Creating a pride shrine can increase happiness, according to Ed Diener, one of the leading pioneers in scientific research on happiness for the past 25 years. Share on X
Wine @ 5
People in all the blue zones regions (except Adventists) drink alcohol moderately and regularly. Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers. The trick is to drink one to two glasses per day (preferably Sardinian Cannonau wine), with friends and/or with food. If you choose to “wine-down” with friends and family, be sure to do so safely, in moderation, and with a designated driver.
Mindful Feasting Practices
Thanksgiving feasts notoriously leave eaters feeling stuffed after dinner. Instead, consider practicing these mindful eating strategies inspired by the blue zones.
80% Rule
“Hara hachi bu”—the Okinawan, 2,500-year-old Confucian mantra said before meals—reminds Okinawans to stop eating when their stomachs are 80% full. The 20% gap between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight or gaining it. “A simple reminder such as a blue bracelet can encourage you to eat less,” writes Lisa Monroe. Try wearing blue as a reminder to hara hachi bu.
Eat early
People in the blue zones eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening and then they don’t eat any more the rest of the day.
Serve mindfully
We’re on a “see food” diet, says Dan Buettner, Blue Zones Founder, explorer, and National Geographic Fellow. Consider staging your Thanksgiving spread at the kitchen counter (out of sight) rather than centerstage at your Thanksgiving table. That way, guests can serve themselves and bring their plates to the table sans the temptation to spoon out second helpings. Hot tip: Encourage guests to bring an empty storage container with a leak-proof lid to take home leftovers.
We’re on a “see food” diet, says Dan Buettner, Blue Zones Founder, explorer, and National Geographic Fellow. Share on XPlant-Slant
Thanksgiving is a time of sharing, and that includes celebratory meals. So while the blue zones centenarians eat primarily plant-based (beans, including fava, black, soy, and lentils are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets) don’t beat yourself up if your Thanksgiving spread includes an array of dishes and dietary preferences. Remember, Thanksgiving Day is all about compassion, and that extends to compassion for others, and self-compassion too. If you stray from the “everyday” Blue Zones way of eating on Thanksgiving Day, remember: life is a winding journey, and so is the Blue Zones lifestyle.
If you stray from the “everyday” Blue Zones way of eating on Thanksgiving Day, remember: life is a winding journey, and so is the Blue Zones lifestyle. Share on X
Connect More Activities
Based on our research of blue zones centenarians–the healthiest, longest-lived people in the world–we know that social connections have a powerful impact on your longevity and overall well-being. Here are a few additional ways you can connect more on Thanksgiving.
Call, text, or Facetime with family and friends
Successful centenarians in the blue zones put their loved ones and families first. One big take away from the COVID-19 pandemic is that it’s not always possible to be physically near the ones you love. Don’t forget to call, text, or Facetime anyone you care about on Thanksgiving Day. In our current epidemic of loneliness, checking in and reaching out can go a long way.
One of the first pieces of advice that explorer, National Geographic Fellow, and Founder of Blue Zones, Dan Buettner, always gives as a way to improve your life, health, and happiness is to sign up to volunteer in your community. Share on XOne of the first pieces of advice that explorer, National Geographic Fellow, and Founder of Blue Zones, Dan Buettner, always gives as a way to improve your life, health, and happiness is to sign up to volunteer in your community. Seek out volunteering opportunities on or around Thanksgiving Day in your community. Volunteering increases both happiness and sense of purpose. It’s an opportunity to give back, see the effects of your contributions, increase your social interactions, find a new network of friends, and further a cause you believe in.
Seek out volunteering opportunities on or around Thanksgiving Day in your community. Volunteering increases both happiness and sense of purpose. Share on XTry having a device-free day
If you’ve been curious if you and your inner circle can rise to the challenge of having a device-free day (or just a device-free evening), Thanksgiving might just be the perfect time to try it. That said, go ahead and power down right now. After all, it’s time to practice what we preach.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Our Gift to You
Use these free printables to help you CONNECT, DOWNSHIFT, and MOVE with family, friends, coworkers, and anyone else. Put these cubes on your dinner table, on your desk, on the kitchen counter, or anywhere else where it’ll remind you to connect, downshift, and move more often and more deeply with those around you.
Bring the lifestyle habits of the world’s healthiest, happiest people to your Thanksgiving gathering!
