National Walking Day: Nashville Walking Club Is Turning Simple Walks Into Real Friendships
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a city known for its thriving fitness culture, one of Nashville’s fastest-growing wellness communities doesn’t revolve around barbells, high-intensity workouts, or marathon training. Instead, it starts with something far simpler.
All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other.
Cassie Dunning founder of NWC
For Cassie Dunning, founder of Nashville Walking Club, the idea began not as a business plan or organized fitness concept, but as a personal shift toward a gentler, more sustainable way of staying active.
“I grew up playing youth soccer and was actually a runner for 15 years,” Dunning said.
Running had long been part of her life, but her body eventually forced her to reconsider what movement looked like.
“I was born with hip dysplasia and have had three hip surgeries,” she explained. “And with that, as I’ve gotten older, my body doesn’t like running the way that it used to.”
Something had to change and she knew just what to do.
From Solo Walks to a Community Movement
As running became more difficult, walking gradually filled the gap. What began as a personal wellness practice soon evolved into something bigger and just as impactful towards health and wellness.
“In the last few years, I really started to walk just for my mental health,” Dunning said. “I also just had a passion for wellness and researching all of the wellness trends.”
Like many habits formed during the pandemic, walking became part of her daily rhythm.
“During COVID, I would just walk the neighborhood,” she said. “I lived in The Nations and I would walk the streets up and down three times or four times a day.”
Around that same time, walking clubs began popping up in cities across the country and Dunning’s friend pointed out what seemed like an obvious next step.
“I had a friend that said, ‘You know, if anyone would start a walking club, it feels like it would be you,’” Dunning laughed. “Because I’m pretty passionate about building community.”
Curious whether Nashville already had something similar, she checked social media.
“I got on Instagram and I was like, let’s see if there are any,” she said. “There weren’t and so I just went for it!”
The Nashville Walking Club officially launched in June 2023.
A Club for Everyone
The club welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds.
“We do get guys every once in a while,” Dunning said. “But we have a few faithful and true guys that love to come, and we also have dogs and babies. We accept everyone!”
Accessibility is also a priority. When participants have specific needs, Dunning adjusts routes to ensure everyone can join.
“One of the girls that comes to the walking club brings her mom who is in a wheelchair,” she said. “I always will choose a route that she can ride on.”
The walks themselves are intentionally relaxed and smooth. “We typically walk for an hour and a half,” Dunning said.
But the experience often includes a bonus stop.
“I’ll also choose a route where there’s a coffee shop typically once a month,” she said, laughing. “Because everything’s better with a little treat.”
Beyond exploring Nashville neighborhoods, the real goal is connection. “Most people that come and walk with us are truly looking for friendship,” Dunning said.
Over time, she began noticing walkers taking their newfound friendships beyond the sidewalk and into restaurants, birthday parties and other gatherings.
Dunning also noted that many people who join the group are navigating major life changes.
“A lot of times when somebody starts with the walking club, it is because they’re going through a big life event,” Dunning said. “Either they’ve moved here from out of state, just got a new job, planning a wedding or even going through break up.”
For Dunning, the club has become about something deeper than exercise.
“Most of it has just been walking alongside people and hearing their stories and just being their friend after that,” she added.
Other gatherings include movie nights, baseball games, dinners, and game nights.
“Some of the girls do movie nights pretty regularly where they’ll watch throwback movies during the summer,” she said.
In many ways, the club has become a networking hub for everyday life.
“Nashville’s all about connections,” Dunning said. “I feel like this is just another facet of that.”
She also added that the diversity among walkers has become a huge part of what makes the group special.
“We’re all from different walks of life” she said. “It doesn’t matter that we’re different from each other, but we still get to love each other.”
The Benefits of Walking
While community is the main draw, the physical and mental health benefits of walking are significant.
“Health-wise, it’s great for your mental health alone,” Dunning said. “There’s been studies that prove that walking has some of the same results as EMDR.”
She mentions that walking is a great way to process life’s biggest stressors and the first step is simply “lacing up.”
“It’s another form of zone two cardio,” she said. “You don’t even have to walk that fast, but even just walking on hills is great for your overall heart health.”
For Dunning personally, walking has replaced the pressure she once felt around running.
“My background was competitive running. A lot of times I would dread it,” she said.
Walking, however, feels different.
“It’s an easy yes,” she said. “I can spend five or ten minutes and just walk around the block.”
Despite the club’s growing popularity, Dunning intentionally keeps the format simple.
“My big thing is I try to keep it simple,” she said. “I try not to make this into another big event space because everything on Instagram kind of is.”
That simplicity, she believes, is part of the appeal. It is a time to unwind, unplug and walk without realizing you might have been walking for miles.
“I think that’s the beauty of it,” she said. “It’s not complicated, it’s easy.”
Walking doesn’t just benefit your muscles and heart, it also supports one of the body’s most important detox systems: the lymphatic system.
Unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump like the heart to move fluid through the body. Instead, it relies on movement.
When you walk, the natural contraction of your muscles helps push lymph fluid through lymph vessels, allowing your body to flush out toxins, reduce inflammation and support immune function. Even light walking can stimulate this process, which is why regular movement can help reduce fluid retention, puffiness and that overall feeling of sluggishness.
Simply put, every step helps your body keep things flowing the way it was designed to.
How to Join
The Nashville Walking Club meets on the first and third Saturday of each month, rotating between different parks and neighborhoods across the city.
Locations are shared online through Instagram and WhatsApp.
In a city constantly buzzing with activity, the Nashville Walking Club offers something refreshingly simple: fresh air, good conversation, and the reminder that sometimes the best way to move forward is just to take a walk.
