Body and mind are inseparable. That is why Fit Kids, a non-profit that delivers structured fitness programs for underserved youth, is uniting in partnership with Galileo Learning.

While Galileo emphasizes innovation as an intellectual exercise, Fit Kids believes physical exercise is key to an intellect capable of innovation. Demonstrating our organizations’ shared values, when the Coronavirus crisis struck, Fit Kids innovated.

Fit Kids videos – originally used to instruct coaches at partner schools and community centers on teaching exercises to kids – grew into this series of Home Workouts now available for free to all Galileo families. Using these workouts can greatly aid you in a wide variety of ways that echo the Galileo ethos.

First of all, under any circumstances, physical fitness is critical to overall wellness. The warm-ups, fitness moves, and yoga/mindfulness cooldowns in the Home Workouts get blood and oxygen flowing. They increase cardio-vascular capacity and improve coordination and balance. They burn calories and build muscles that burn more calories, fighting obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Those are all good outcomes in and of themselves.

Further, returning to the original point, mind and body depend on each other to function at high levels. The Home Workouts relieve tension and burn nervous energy, both of which so many of us carry in abundance during the Coronavirus crisis. Dissipating that tension and nervousness frees the mind to focus on tasks at hand…such as innovating.

The Home Workouts also help release endorphins and other neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, the brain chemicals that help regulate your mood. All of this fights the depression that can accompany the sense of loss, fear, and drastic lifestyle changes inherent in the current crisis.

In another demonstration of what unites Fit Kids and Camp Galileo, consider that the preceding paragraphs couch a great deal of science. In just a few seconds, we already have touched on chemistry, kinesiology, biology, psychology, and engineering. Engaging in exercise and intellectually exploring it at the same time creates a feedback loop that integrates mind and body.

Fit Kids’ Home Workouts also might have Camp Galileo kids considering new modes of using technology and video, as well as new communication patterns among people. You might even look at exercise as a universal language and explore different sports and fitness traditions throughout the world.

Finally, Camp Galileo kids can go beyond the four workouts that Fit Kids created and use the entire video glossary to innovate their own fitness plans. It’s a great way to live out the shared values of the Fit Kids-Camp Galileo partnership and to keep bodies and minds united.

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This blog post was created in collaboration with our friends at Fit Kids, a non-profit that delivers structured fitness programs for underserved youth.