Tap Into Your Gratitude With These Free Follow-Along Yoga Videos You Can Do at Home

Updated on 11/19/2019 at 10:30 AM

Getty | Stígur Már Karlsson /Heimsmyndir

Sure, some people spend Thanksgiving morning running that annual 5K Turkey Trot. Others spend it by the oven, basting the main course bird, or on the road driving to their relatives' house. But whatever you choose to do in the hours leading up to the Turkey Day festivities, try to stay grounded and tap into the gratitude that this holiday is all about. And, what better way to do so than with some introspective, calming yoga?

Ahead, teachers like Adriene Mishler and Jacquelyn from Action Jacquelyn will walk you through yoga meant to give you moments of reflection, reminding you of what your body can do and what you're grateful for. As Adriene says in one of her videos, "Take a moment to appreciate your body, to appreciate and be thankful for this time, your practice, all that you have, all that we have and that we share. . . . Recognize how gratitude, being thankful, makes you feel. I totally believe it's a powerful practice, and it's my go-to when I feel like I don't know what to do."

These videos range from 12 to 40 minutes in length, and if you choose to follow along, they'll be a great escape from the meal prep (and also the chaos that family reunions may bring!). Plus, try these flows any day of the year for a special opportunity to work on flexibility, ease your mind, and move with intention.

35-Minute Yoga For Gratitude From Yoga With Adriene

This flow, Adriene Mishler promises, will stretch your body from head to toe. The focus is "the sensations that we feel when we apply that attitude of gratitude," she said, and listening to how the poses affect our limbs. Some poses include Extended Child's Pose, Plank, Downward Facing Dog, and different types of lunges.

12-Minute Gentle Morning Vinyasa Yoga For Gratitude From Brett Larkin

Brett Larkin, as you'd expect, talks a lot about being grateful in this quick yoga flow. Gratitude, she said, is the "bridge from a bad mood to a good mood." Open up your chest (and heart) with Warrior 1, and following along to the short meditation at the end. The best part about this video is that she not only guides you on how to move through the flow; she also guides you in what to say to yourself when it comes to gratitude.

34-Minute Grounding Into Gratitude Root Chakra Flow From Yoga With Adriene

"This yoga practice guides you through a series of poses to balance the root chakra and cultivate grounding with gratitude," Adriene wrote in this YouTube video's description. "When the root chakra, or Muladhara, is out of balance, a person can feel anxious, uneasy, fearful, worried and stressed. This can lead to low energy and low immunity and an overall sense of instability. Use the tools of yoga to strengthen and balance to the root chakra, the foundation of all the other chakras."

30-Minute Vinyasa Yoga Flow For Gratitude From Fightmaster Yoga

Lesley Fightmaster of Fightmaster Yoga takes us through a 30-minute flow geared toward finding what you're thankful for. You'll start and end lying in Savasana (the best pose!).

40-Minute Morning Gratitude Yoga From Yoga With Kassandra

Kassandra from Yoga With Kassandra wrote in the YouTube description of this video: "No matter how busy your day may be or how many things may seem to be going wrong in your life, I believe we can all be grateful for SOMETHING. Just the fact that you are alive right now is a privilege that not everyone gets. Move and breathe with me and let's create a wonderful intention for the day together." You'll do poses on all fours, on the ground, and standing.

37-Minute "I Am Grateful" Yoga Camp From Yoga With Adriene

Adriene is back with another flow that was part of her Yoga Camp series back in 2016. She actually wants you to repeat "I am grateful" to yourself during the video and, as a bonus, it'll bring the heat with some core work (you'll do a variation of the bird dog exercise!).

25-Minute Morning Yoga Practice For Gratitude From Action Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn from Action Jacquelyn will have you start with some breath work in a seated position. While in that position, she'll say, "You can be grateful for yourself and the work that you do. You can be grateful for your job, maybe somebody in your family, or maybe someone did something for you, maybe you don't even know the person that well, but they did something that was nice and you just want to thank them in your mind right now. Pick three things; list them off to yourself." Then, you'll move through the flow with poses like Extended Child's Pose, Forward Fold, Yogi Squat (or Wide Squat), and more.