When I was in search of my house, I knew that one of my priorities was that I wanted a space that would continually inspire me to be a healthy person. I didn’t know exactly what that would look like, but I did have “a good place to do yoga” on the list. Soon as I saw this house, I had a feeling it would be the one because, when I drove into the driveway, I was faced head on with a sun porch that was so bright and beautiful, it sang. The rest of the house, especially the back deck soon proved to be good partners for the greeting sun porch.

Health and healing were so important to me In fact, that at the ritual during my house warming party, I asked my friends to lift up that energy, along with things of equal importance to me such as friendship, creativity, hospitality, and love & the pursuit of partnership.

That same evening, a friend and colleague, Patton White, who had helped to hold up the energy of food during the ritual, but who could have represented just about all of the energies frankly, took me by the shoulders and gently glided me out onto the back deck.

A word about Patton White: this man is so graceful, so elegant, his whole life is like a dance, even watching him fix and eat a salad is like watching an act of dignity. Even his Facebook posts begin with “Dance thought of the day.”

Back to our story…there I was in my kitchen, at the party, when Patton came took me by the shoulders and dance/walked me outside onto the porch. “You realize, of course, that you’ve bought a venue, right?” as he swept his arm grandly about. We went on to dream together about performances and all sorts of things I could do out there.

Today, I got started.

I have lots of friends who are trying to build their health-based practice, and looking to build up their clientele, and that just happens to fit with my vision for Chez Crickette to be a place for my own health & healing.

One of those friends is Deanna Companion. She’s new to Atlanta, but she’s already doing amazing things here, including serving as the pilates trainer to the Cirque du Soleil artists while they’re in town.

I remember once years ago, when I was having a particularly hard time with my job, a man I deeply loved and respected doodled  for me a Venn diagram with three circles on a piece of paper. “The key,” he said, “is to find something that you love to do, that you’re good at, and that people will pay you for.”

Deanna embodies the Venn diagram so completely she makes you want to try harder to be yourself. She has found that thing not just in the pilates. In fact, way more special than the class was the Thai yoga massage I received after everyone else had left today. Having had few massages in my life, I know it will sound hyperbolic to the point of being utterly trite, but please believe me when I say this one: the. best.

I’ve never felt my body so cared for, so encouraged to stretch to new places – to care for and repair itself at the same time.

I felt such love from the universe flowing toward me when I was in Deanna’s hands. It felt like a true gift at the end of what had been a pretty hard week.

If you’re in Atlanta and want to give yourself, or someone else, a gift, please consider Deanna’s services. I promise I’m going to be feeling into the gifts I gave myself, that she gave to me and my community, for quite some time.