Chrissie

Taste…Touch…Aroma… Sensation. I believe that all of these play an important part in our everyday life. They are what make something ordinary turn into something extraordinary. Unfortunately these simple senses have somehow been lost in the modern world we now live in.

We live fast paced lifestyles where our senses have no role, and we are focused on speed and the mental faculties. We take no notice of the world around us anymore, constantly focused on rushing through it under the guise of being productive. It is my personal philosophy that in living this way we turn into a type of robot, moving through each day in the same fashion, just existing rather than living. We have lost sight of what it means to have a Human Experience, one of the most beautiful gifts given to us by being on this planet.

I too found myself in this robotic cycle, however in 2006 I made a personal decision to break it. I moved myself to Argentina, a new culture, a new way of living and being. Without planning it I began working in the wine industry, and basically in a whole new world. I immersed myself in a wine and food culture that focused on what real taste and aroma was all about. I was all of sudden required to shut my brain off and start using senses that I hadn’t pulled out in years. It was a fabulous experience, to see the world through new eyes. And it was this new culture of food and wine that ignited the fire.

This experience that is the basis of Awaken Your Senses. Since then I have been working with people using food and wine to assist people in awakening to sensation. Each class and workshop is geared to help people experience a new perspective based on the senses that we have had shut off for so long.

I now live and teach in Argentina, with a background as a chocolatier, writer and current student of wine. In addition, I have created a specialized chocolatier program with a specialization in wine that I teach at the Wine Institute in Mendoza, Argentina.

In creating Awaken Your Senses I hope to, using food and wine as tools, inspire people to look at ordinary things and experience them in a completely new way, and experience the beautiful world that is waiting for them. You may find that you, too, will never turn back…

Chrissie Bettencourt