- I'm and I'm here in Discovery Park, native lands of the Duwamish and other Coast Salish peoples.

Today, I'm shining a light on the powerful connection between the outdoors and our wellbeing.

Our connection to nature is proven to increase our mental and physical wellness, but beyond that it makes us care more about the world around us.

In that spirit, I'll be sharing the stories of Black, indigenous, and other people of co in the Pacific Northwest whose mental health has been positively impacted simply by getting outsid (lively music) When I think of the single most powerful force in my life, its movement.

In fact, I was so active th at my father gave me the nickname Powdered Feet.

It describes somebody who moves so much, you never see them.

Just the footprints of where they've been in powder, running, walking, yoga, hiking have brought me joy, a sense of accomplishment and connection to various communities.

In fact, moving from New York to Seattle it was movement that allowed me to find my people.

Perhaps most importantly though, movement has been a key aspect of ma my mental health.

Unfortunately, in Bl ack, indigenous and other people of color have historically had limited access and opportunities to recreate.

Policies of segregation and exclusion, along with racist and violent encounters in the outdoors continue to negatively impact our sense of and safety in the outdoors.

And yet, the outdoors remains a place of healing f In an episode from last season, Jas shares with me how the outdoors h discover their true identity as a queer person of color.

All right, here goes nothing.

Where to start?

- Let's see.

Okay, so you'll see some holds are probably better to hold with ground your hands and some holds might be better to hold with your feet.

- Okay.

- All right.

If you can do what l but there isn't like a set way of doing it.

- Okay.

Well, I would love to see - What is the wall saying to you?

What is the wall saying to you?

That's beautiful.

- It's like, how does Maybe it's that way.

Maybe it's this wa - Well.

Oh yeah.

Woohoo.

- Did it.

- Well, let me see if I can see what the wall's saying to me.

- Of course.

- Wall, how would you - Yeah, good.

- Let's see.

I like this little - My name is Jas Maisonet.

I use they/them pronouns.

And I'm from New York, born a - Have you always been in the outdoors?

- Yes, because I grew up in a time where kids played outside.

We'd go outside, we 'd end up at some friend's house and then we'd be home for dinner.

- What is coupon hikes?

What does that stand for?

What is it about - It's for people of colo who are interested in hiking, who want to experience - So much of the outdoors, the way that it's an d sold to us is about ep and summiting Rainier, especially being here, I'm like everybody's summiting Rainier and the baker.

But yeah, a hike is a hike, right?

- Yeah, I think anytime I step outside of the house with the intention of benefiting myself in within nature, and that's a hike.

- I love that.

- Tell me about the QPOC piece of it.

Because I'm a person of color, I'm but I know my own journey and struggles with feeling comfortable in the outdoors.

Why was it important for this to be - I think because there are a lot of queer circles centered around like happy hours and drinking and meet-ups that way.

And I wanted this to in addition to just like being a queer space, a queer POC space that it was a sober space for people to link up.

- Tell me about the safety piece.

- If you're hiking by your as if you were, if you were hiking in a group.

Also, if you have one brown person by themselves, it's probably not as safe as if you have a whole collective o watch each other's backs or not, if that's necessary.

- You've shared that your gender identity was something that you sort of came to understand about yourself.

I'd love for you to tell me about that.

- Growing up, I never really saw myself as on I would say.

I would have folks be like, "Hey buddy.

Oh, I mean, honey, sweetie.

Oh, sorry."

I'm just like... - What are you?

What do I call you?

- I'm like You can just say, Hey, Li ke, okay, that's fine, whatever.

But I didn't really have that voice and just being like, actually, I'm done with this.

I'm done trying to please other people and I'm done trying to like not make other people uncomfortable by being my true self.

Right, my pronouns are they/them.

This is who I am.

This is who I've alway This is wh This is what's comf - But thank you for your bravery.

- Of course, yes It's, you know, fo the people who need to see someone who's like them, who's brave enough, brave enough, right.

To just live your truth and be you.

Be your weird, authentic self because that's what we need in the world.

- So how did you get into climbing?

I'm gonna say that's one thing Black people don't do.

- Correct.

Black people don't they don't go outdoors.

There's a lot of thi I mean, they don't jump bu t yeah.

I started, I think it was when we were 10 years old or something and I was like, ro And then obviously in my adult life I was like, wait, I enjoyed that.

- Well, it was very like ballet, and very like flowy movement which honestly showed me how I could move my body.

- It is an art form.

It is sort of like a ballet, sort of meditational because you are in control of where you're going.

- Yeah, feel it.

- Let's see.

I like this little - And it's like, I know - Right, well, this is like really odd 'cause I'm like really spread out.

- And yeah, a lot of like understanding your body's weight.

- Yeah.

- Where it is.

- I know, I'm very botto so I'm like this is great, but ca Nope.

- Right.

- Oh, this is Yeah, that's not gonna...

I'm out of breath, am I scared?

- You got this.

- Okay.

- Literally, it's at a time.

- Like this?

- That was already better.

Let's go this way.

Sweat that in my quad.

Okay.

- Again, there it is.

- Nice.

Okay.

- Here we go.

- I'm gonna take - Victory lap up top, absolutely.

- Thank you for this lesson.

- Of course, yeah.

Thank you.

There's some people who come to hikes not knowing anyone.

They just come by themselves and then they like So if I can- - That's bea - Keep just creating a space so that people can do that.

Like it's great.

Was that my intention when creating this?

No, I just wanted a sa with other folks who were like me.

- You didn't know you were gonna change the world?

- No.

Still don't know if that's gonn But if I can leave an imprint, a positive impact, then great.

If it touches at least one person's life then I think that's the goal, hone - Be your weird, authentic self because that's what we need in this world.

The joy that Jas brings to the spaces they create i particularly in this moment where trans and non-binary folks are facing attacks and legislation seeking to erase their existen By providing safe spaces for queer people of color to recreate and show up as their authentic selves, Jas truly is helping to change the world.

Similarly, activist Rosalie Fish has dedicated her life and her movement to advocating for missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and two spirits.

She imagines a world where indigenous lives matter and can move through the world without worry or fear.

So we're gonna run together today.

Are you going to kill me?

- No, never.

- Where are you in your or what do you have coming u - I do have the team camp coming - Okay, so I beat the training which means you're out of shape.

- Yes.

- Which gives me Wonderful.

- The timing could not be better.

- Awesome.

How many miles are you - Somewhere probably around four or l - All right.

- How do - Let's do - My name's Rosalie Fish.

I'm a 21 year old athlet I'm an athlete at the University of Washington.

I'm queer and I have a mental disability.

I run for missing and murdered indigenous women and two-Spirit.

I also am a member of the I grew up on the reservation.

Most importantly, I'm a sister.

- Thank you for the run.

- Great.

- When did running become more than just running for you?

- When I was younger, I had actually been living with and at one point I actually got really bad suicidal ideation.

- Oh wow.

- And while I was recovering I was able to find running.

It gave me a routine and it helped me regulate - What I think about running that's so powerful is that it provides this coping mechanism but so many people don't know that.

- One thing that's really indigenous is that seeing health holistically, both spiritually, mentally, physically, there's each part of us.

So even though bipolar is considered a mental disorder by taking care of our bodies and appreciating them can actually hel like bipolar and depression.

- How did running enter your life?

- Following up in my sophomore year of high school and I had I've been running on my mental health and I've been getting An d now I wanted to c and actually join the track te and compete at Muckleshoot Tribal High Sc And they threw me in a uniform and they're like, "Oh yeah we finally got someone, get her on t - You didn't know you were starting the track team?

- Yeah.

What I learned through fo r a tribal school was the preconceptions of me as an athlete because I was tribal.

I would show up to meets and the rivaling schools would We even at one point found graffiti in the women's bathroom.

And there were offensive slurs such as Indian Savage, and live off the government on the same stalls that my siblin And through being an athlete at tribal school, I learned that I was not only representing my as a competitor but I am bearing the traumas of indigenous youth and indigenous athletes in Washington.

And that's where it became more than running, it became representing my people and standing up to these stereotypes and showing up on the line and people dou people thinking I'd already lost the race only to come up and win it.

But being able to have those youth who actually saw what I was doing and were appreciating it and hopefully and inspiring them to show that we can be top caliber athletes no matter what anybody says.

- Can you tell me about that first time that you decided to place the hand print over your mouth what that means and your advocacy work?

- Missing and murdered indigenous women and two-Spirit has been a huge of my community since as long as I can remember.

I would see the missing person's posters.

There would be people in my life who had just disappeared.

I saw Jordan Marie Daniel, a mutual friend of ours running the Boston Marathon and she had a red hand print and then the initials MMIW down her leg.

And it was her using her platform as an athlete, a professional athlete at that to raise awareness and to demand attent to this crisis that has been plaguing our communities.

I realized that I needed to be doing so much more and she had shown me what I need to do.

So I messaged Jordan Marie Danie I'm a huge fan and I wanna ask your permission to follow in your footsteps and use my state championship meet to run for a missing and murdered indigenous woman and Two Spirit.

And I decided to dedi to a missing or murdered indigenous woman in my My Aunt Alice Looney, Jackie Salyers, Renee Davis, Misty Uptown.

- I mean, hearing it, I get chills thinking about just how powerful that experience was and the fact that you continue to speak these women's name.

That's often what activists and protesters say, say their name, say her name because so often people pass and are or are treated as though they don't matter.

- Murder is the third leading cause of death in native women and two-spirit people.

Now about 94% of us will experience violence within our lifetimes.

- 94%.

- And myself, my family, are includ So yeah.

Thank you.

We're okay.

- Who is Rosalie when she's not a runner, an a - I'm a sister.

My youngest sister Solstice, Or maybe were at Canoe Family Practice.

I spend a lot of time with the members of the Muckleshoot Canoe family and their community paddling on our traditional ocean going canoes and that's how I'm able to connect with nature in my own way.

- I know that canoeing is, as you mentioned, your way of connecting to nature and is this beautiful tradition.

Could you share with me the history behind that?

- Yeah.

So my people, the Muck traveled by the waters.

I mean, our lives revolved around the It's what gave us life.

And we are able to practice what we call the traditional highways, which are the oceans.

And we can travel in our canoes and we go up and down the sound, the canoes are about 12 feet long and they are super heavy.

They're made out of - Wow.

- It starts burning - It's like the first couple miles of a run right?

- Yeah, exactly.

But the fact that it's so it's like I have that privilege to be prac and to be going through that pain.

And it's the closest thing I have to prayer, similar to running.

It's that, you know, even th or it's tough, it's the privilege of being able to do it in the first place.

- We know scientifically and anecdotally, the powerful and positive impact movement has on one's mental health, allowing for better processing and even meditation.

Folks like Rosalie inspire me to for social justice as well as my own personal mental health.

For a long time, running was the only way I was able to access a meditative state.

But having the opportunity to try fly fishing with Giancarlo Lawrence showed me that there are many way to access it.

I absolutely never thought bu t the experience with Giancarlo had me reconsidering that thought.

- You see all the shells down as you're walking, all the rocks and stuff?

- Oh, this is cool.

- This is all that structu and this is where food lays All sorts of stuff.

- Oh my gosh.

I hooked - You got - Not bad.

- I see it.

It's behind the hood b You get that cat, watch your cat.

- I know.

- Ther There it is.

There it is.

So now that you have your Grab that line.

You can set it down.

You can la Boom.

Lay it out.

Boom.

Ok Now this will be - Okay.

- Flip that around.

Pick that up again and start casting it.

My name is Giancarlo Lawrence.

A lot of people call me Gian.

And I'm born and raised I' m a fly fisherman, I'm a chef, I'm a father.

I love the outdoors.

So anything that has to do - And today we're talking about fly fishing.

- Yes ma'am, that's - Which is, I gotta say, not a th - Not at all.

- On the list of things we - Yeah.

- The way at the b - There's about this many of us There's not a lot of us.

- How do you find your how did you get - So growing up in the s and being right next to the inner city, I had this like pull back and forth.

In the suburbs, I had kids being like, you're supposed to be li And then you go to the inn and they're like you And I'm just getting yank not really understanding who I am or what I am supposed to be doing.

So I ended up taking this pathway trying to impress the people around me and trying to be what they say I should be.

And it was bad.

It was horrible.

I got in lot I wasn't heading down So when I started fishing and hiki like I said, my head just turned the other way and got fishing with a few friends and I saw a guy fly fishing across t and he was just catching fish and back and forth nonstop.

All this gear, he is walking in the water.

It was just like beautiful, right Like these old An d I knew, I was like, I wanna That's what I want to do.

I want to get in the water And I started fly fishing and it took off.

It opened up so many doors for me.

- That is so powerful, and exactly why the outdoo and everybody needs to be able to enjoy them because I mean, I think about that for my son.

Ultimately, that's why I left New York.

I left New York because I want to feel exactly the way that you described.

To just know in his bones that the outdoors is his birthright and that being connected to nature is good for you, improves your mental health.

Like, I want him to have that experien but there's still this war in my min of just like fully letting go of- - It's scary.

It reall It's, you know, like, ki nd of almost warn you in a way which is it's a fault of ours, of 'cause we wanna protect.

So we're like, oh, don't go out there.

You know, don't be out in t Like, you be careful by white people out there.

Like things like that, an d stuff, but it's extremely misleading and that stuff sticks to us as w - You're absolutely right.

I think ab The generational trauma that - Absolutely.

- Historically bad things, ba d things happen outdoors.

But that can't be a reason for us never experiencing the beauty and transformative power of the outdoors.

So we're fishing tomorrow.

- Yes.

- Tell me, - So you're gonna expect, It 's gonna be a bit cold out there and it's probably gonna be windy and stuff, but it's all part of it.

You know, it's an experience.

- Yeah, I'm already much warmer.

This is good.

- Stuff those things All right, you ready?

- Let's do it.

- Le - Oh my gosh, I feel it like suctioning to my body.

- Right, yeah.

- I'm still like, am I Like what's happening?

- So we can stay, we - Okay.

- It's definitely like, Yo u really wanna j is flinging this out there, but you have to propel it the right It's not like the tip is not leading the way, the line is leading the way.

So the rod has nothing to do with it anymor It's the line, how you lay it out there, right.

So it's like a bounce.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

- Got it.

Tick tock.

Tick toc There you go, tick t Beautiful.

- Ah-h - There it is.

There you go.

That's perfect, gets - Thank you.

Fish.

Got him.

Got him.

- Ahh.

- It's funny 'cause they're following it the whole way.

- Oh my gosh.

- Beautiful.

Searun Cutthro That hook will just usually pops right out It's barbless.

There they are.

- Wow.

- What we do is just let 'em go.

- Bye buddy.

Oh my gosh.

- Pretty cool.

That easy.

- Cool.

- There you are.

Thank you for an awesome day.

- Thank you for coming out h Got you in my backyard.

Got to see what you know wha - And I totally get it.

- Yeah.

- I ge - This is it.

It's relaxing.

This is medi This is everything.

- Tell me about th for you being a Black angler?

- If 10 Black kids can see me fishing and start fis and 10 of their friends can see them fishing that's gonna be something.

In a few years, that In 40 years, that's gonna be, that's what it is.

And I love being like the face for the outsiders, you know, as they call it.

I wanna get the Th at's what we do.

- Gian's work is having a ripple effect.

The power of representation has never been more apparent.

And people like Gian know that just one person can I have met so many incredible people who are doing important work to welcome Bla and other people of color into the outdoors.

And I'm so excited to continue this journey of exploration and reflection.

It's more important than ever to be spreading the word about opportunities, sharing information about ac and seeing with our own eyes people from all backgrounds embarking on unique adventures.

Black and brown people do all things, running, climbing, hiking, kayaking, farming, you name it.

And we belong in all spaces.

We deserve the joy that comes from these outdoor experienc The outdoors is our birthright.

I'm Alison Mariella Desir and I hope you'll join me outside.

- [Voiceover] Fleet Feet is on a mission to inspire the runner in everyone, and is proud to sp with Alison Mariella Desir.