artist

the

about

Nuclear scientist. Artist. Certified breathwork facilitator.

Someone who learned the hard way that a impressive life and a good life are not the same thing.

dr. alicia swift

hello, I'm

explore my work

The version that looked right

the story

For fifteen years I built a career that looked extraordinary from the outside.

I earned a PhD in nuclear engineering. Worked my way to Research Director: managing teams, programs, and tens of millions of dollars in funding. Became an internationally recognized expert in nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. Received fellowships, awards, and recognition from the United States government.

From the outside: everything was working - and it was working well.

But from the inside: I was running on empty and had no idea how to stop.

I wasn't burned out in the way people talk about burnout. I was still functioning, still performing, still showing up. But something essential had gone quiet. The work that used to feel meaningful felt like maintenance. The life I had built carefully and deliberately didn't feel like mine anymore.

And then the bottom dropped out when I developed debilitating chronic illness. And I hit a wall I couldn't think, optimize, or work my way through.

So I stopped.

The year I did nothing — and learned everything

the sabbatical

In March 2024, I took a year-long sabbatical. No plan. No pivot strategy. No job.

Just rest.

I traveled. I slept. I learned to sit still long enough to actually feel something. I picked up my camera — which I've had in my hands since I was five years old — and remembered why I loved it. I started to notice what happened in my body when I was in a beautiful space versus a chaotic one. I started to understand, through both lived experience and science, that our environments are not neutral - and that beauty is not decorative, it is necessary.

By the end of that year, I had built a completely different relationship with my own nervous system. I had a morning routine, a sleep practice, a toolkit of somatic practices I could use anywhere. I had made peace with slowness.

And I had decided to build something that would help other people find their way there, too - without needing to take a year off to do it.

That was the beginning of Astreya.

What I actually do

the work

explore the tools see the art

In 2025, I founded Astreya — a private fine art gallery centered in the healing practices of neuroaesthetics and somatics — and I create tools, art, and experiences for people who want to build a slower, more intentional life...without giving up their ambition.

My work sits at the intersection of three things I have spent my whole life studying:

The science — I study neuroaesthetics, somatic practice, and how the nervous system responds to beauty, breath, and environment. I approach this the way I approach everything: rigorously, curiously, and with a healthy skepticism of anything that can't be demonstrated. I test it all on myself, and I bring only the best of the best to others.

The art — I have been a photographer since childhood. My practice is slow and deliberate. I am always chasing a quality of light or stillness that never quite survives the translation into a photograph - but I keep trying anyway. My current collection, stop/motion, is a series of limited-edition prints from the Drake Passage — one of the most remote and elemental oceans on earth.

The practice — Daily, I return to calm & inner peace through breathwork, meditation, and somatic tools that work in 90 seconds or less. Because most people don't have an hour, and regulation actually doesn't require one.

what i believe and how it guides me

the philosophy

read seeking stillness

I am a scientist who believes function is not more important than form. An engineer who thinks most engineers are wrong about this.

I believe beauty is not a luxury — it is a biological necessity. That what you look at every day is shaping your nervous system, whether you know it or not. That the spaces you inhabit are either restoring you or depleting you, and there is no neutral. That beautiful environments act like preventative medicine.

I believe art is not decorative. It is one of the oldest and most fundamentally human acts there is — practiced for 50,000 years across every culture on earth. A life without art is not a fully human life. And it is not one I am interested in living.

I believe rest has inherent value — not as a productivity tool, not as recovery before the next sprint, but as a human need that our culture has systematically devalued and that we are all paying for. Productivity and efficiency should not apply when building a life.

I believe in analog solutions. You do not need another app, another wearable device, or another optimization strategy. You need to come back into your body. You need genuine human connection. You need beauty around you that does something real.

I also believe digital offerings provide transformation across borders. That they democratize information. That they help individuals take ownership over their health, their careers, and their lives. And that the best digital offerings are short, and help people return to the analog as quickly as possible.

And, I believe I am a living example, an embodied proof of transformation. Everything I offer, everything I teach, is grounded in the integrity of practicing what I preach. That's why I write 'Seeking Stillness:' so you can journey along with me as I build a dream life, too.

For those who want the full picture

the details

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Education:
PhD, Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee (UT)
NNSA Graduate Fellowship
Nuclear Scholars Initiative, CSIS

Recognition:
UT 40 Under 40
Two NNSA awards for service to the United States

Certifications:
Certified Breathwork Facilitator
Certified Meditation Instructor
Nuclear Security Science and Analysis

Current work:
Founder, Astreya — private fine art gallery and breathwork studio
Photographer — stop/motion collection and ongoing nature photography
Author — poetry, creative nonfiction, and practical guides for nervous system regulation

Currently based:
San Diego, California — relocating to the south of France, summer 2026

CV available upon request

Instagram: @Alicia.L.Swift

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Instagram: @Alicia.L.Swift