From Equations to Energy – Why I Chose Natural Medicine
By Dr. Sofía Swatt, DNM, PhD
When people ask me how I became a doctor of natural medicine, they’re often surprised to hear where it all began: in engineering classrooms at UC Berkeley. I started my academic journey studying Environmental Science and Engineering, following in my mother’s footsteps and driven by a deep love for mathematics and a fascination with the natural world.
Midway through college, I found myself drawn even deeper into the world of theory and computation. I was enthralled by the mental challenge of solving technical algorithms and exploring complex theoretical frameworks, which eventually led me to pursue a master’s degree in pure mathematics. But while I was thriving academically, my body was silently crying out for help.
Behind the scenes, I was suffering from chronic gut pain so intense it would sometimes cause me to faint. My skin—another mirror of inner imbalance—was erupting in breakouts that left my self-esteem in pieces. I tried everything. I saw over a dozen specialists—dermatologists, gastroenterologists, functional doctors—ran endless labs, and followed strict elimination diets. I only ate vegetables at one point. I did infrared saunas, colonics, liver flushes, acupuncture, glutathione IV drips, homeopathy, Tibetan medicine, candida & parasite cleanses, and every gut repair supplement under the sun. I even took Accutane—not once, but three separate times. Nothing worked. In fact, the last round of Accutane made my skin worse. You name it, I tried it—and still, nothing touched the root.
At some point, I realized that the answer wasn't going to come from outside of me. I had to take healing into my own hands.
By then, I had already amassed a wealth of knowledge in the “biohacking” and quantum biology spaces, driven by my own research and relentless curiosity. It was around 2019–2020 that I started understanding the human body not just as a biochemical machine, but as an energetic field—an intelligent matrix of electricity, magnetism, and consciousness. The missing link in my healing wasn’t another supplement, restrictive diet, or lab test. It was the biofield—our body’s energetic architecture.
I came to understand that illness often begins in the outermost layers of the energy body—through emotional trauma, chronic stress, or disconnection—and then moves inward, manifesting as physical symptoms. And so, the breakthrough came not through trying harder, but through harmonizing my energy field.
This wasn’t just a hard chapter—it felt like death row. I was utterly devastated, emotionally exhausted, and out of options. I had tried everything I knew to try—and then tried more. My body was in pain every single day, my skin was a source of deep shame. I started to believe that maybe this was just going to be my life. That maybe healing wasn’t in the cards for me. It’s hard to put into words the kind of loneliness and desperation that comes from doing everything “right” and still feeling broken.
And yet, somehow, through the grace of this path, I found my way back to life. Not through a quick fix, but through deep surrender—through doing the inner work, reclaiming my emotions, and remembering who I really was beyond the diagnosis, the symptoms, the suffering. Through my training in hypnotherapy, shamanic healing, and Reiki, I was blessed to encounter teachers, mentors, and healing practitioners who helped me peel back the layers of emotional pain I hadn’t even realized I was carrying. That’s when everything shifted. My skin began to heal. My digestion stabilized. I now feel healthier, more alive, and more radiant than ever before. Not because I chased perfection, but because I committed to becoming whole. That is what saved me. And that is why I do this work now—because I know what it’s like to feel hopeless, and I know that healing is possible.
Sometimes, the answers aren’t in another pill or protocol—but in the parts of ourselves we were never taught to listen to. And when we begin there, everything can change.
