This interview is with Sienna Eve Benton, Alternative Medicine, Soul Science.
To start, for readers meeting you for the first time, how do you describe your work and expertise in health and wellness?
Sienna Benton is an Air Force veteran who received a Master of Fine Arts degree, where she discovered the benefits of creative therapy for veterans struggling with PTSD, depression, and insomnia. She became fascinated with research surrounding sound baths, mandala art, and the mental benefits of journaling. After working at multiple holistic companies and CNU College of Medicine, Sienna learned that alternative medicine is more than just breathwork, meditation, and saying “namaste.”
Alternative medicine contains real treatments and medical research that is gaining more credibility within Western medicine. The stigma surrounding alternative medicine is shifting because it consistently proves to be another resource for patients who have already tried everything else with their primary care physicians. At present, Sienna is collaborating with Dr. John Stuart Reid, the co-inventor of the CymaScope, and Louisa and Rowan Firethorn, founders of Vibro Acoustix, to offer opportunities for medical schools to study whether treatments using technology like sound baths, sound frequency pods, and music medicine can help heal multiple diseases that stem from chronic inflammation within the vagus nerve.
Looking back, what key experiences—from the Air Force to launching Soul Science—most shaped your path into this field?
PTSD and insomnia were major factors that led to Soul Science. Medication would put me to sleep, but only for a few hours, and the dreams I had made the condition worse. I know it sounds weird, but I constantly dreamt about being in some type of military, and when I woke up from those dreams, I felt depressed all day.
When I discovered sound baths, cymatics, and how mandalas are directly connected to sound made visible, I noticed a change in what I dreamt about and how long I slept through the night. I kept a dream journal, and eventually, I started dreaming less about being in the military and more in classrooms or about people whom I had never met, but somehow knew.
Something about the sound, the journaling, doodling mandalas, and meditation helped me organize my thoughts and release a lot of pain I didn’t know my body had.
Staying with that integrative lens, describe a moment when blending mental, spiritual, and physical care changed a client’s outcome, highlighting one practice readers could try today.
If you have never been to a sound bath, I highly recommend trying it. They are often offered at yoga studios, so you could book one today if the studio has a practitioner on staff. You could always find one on YouTube, but it’s one thing to play it over a speaker versus in-person treatment. In person, you can actually feel the hertz massaging the body, specifically the vagus nerve.
Dr. Reid, the Firethornes, and I have all had patients receive treatments where their pain would go away and even be absent for the next 24-48 hours without medication. I’ve had other clients express that the vibrations relieved their sinus pressure and even cleared mucus. It’s truly a unique, non-invasive experience.
On the personal side, when your own health wobbles under stress, what is your 24‑hour reset protocol?
I listen to my body. My body tells me when I’m triggered or about to experience an episode. If it’s a work day, I simply give myself permission to do fewer tasks and focus on doing them to the best of my ability.
I skip the grocery run, the gym, and whatever household chore I had planned, and go immediately to bed. When my depression hits, I know I’m headed for an intense nap period followed by perhaps a few days of watching nature documentaries before bed.
The sound of nature has equally amazing benefits as a sound bath, and documentaries about Earth, space, animals, etc. also help me to recenter on what actually matters in life.
Shifting to daily habits, what is the simplest mindfulness practice you’ve seen busy people sustain, including how you help them keep it consistent?
Listening to podcasts and self-help audiobooks while working, working out, or commuting to and from work is a simple mindfulness practice that busy people can sustain. It is an easy task to do and can even set the tone for the day for those who listen while getting ready for work.
Additionally, it helps decompress from the day; for example, a ten-minute cool down at the gym can also serve as a guided meditation.
On gut health, how do you coach clients to run safe, effective self‑experiments with meal, stress, and symptom tracking without tipping into obsession?
Audit your decisions, especially around meals. Meal prepping can be very useful when struggling with gut issues like SIBO. Start a meal plan with minimal ingredients, then add a new ingredient each day of the week.
For example:
- On Monday, have chicken and rice with one or two seasonings.
- On Tuesday, maybe add roasted carrots.
- On Wednesday, add potatoes.
- On Thursday, add another seasoning or try a sauce.
If the gut gets triggered, you’ll be able to track which ingredient was most likely the culprit.
When supplements come up, what decision rules guide you before suggesting options like magnesium or herbal blends instead of first‑line habits such as sleep, nutrition, or movement?
Listen to your body. If a week or so has gone by, and either no or minimal progress is made with diet and sleep, then consider adding supplements. I recommend sticking to supplements that aren’t fancy combinations because it will be easier to track which ones are healing or aggravating the gut.
At first, try straightforward oregano, peppermint, turmeric, etc. You can try one supplement a day and then add more as you go to see how your gut responds. The time of day you take them can also influence your progress. Some are best taken without food, while others can be taken with food to help with digestion.
Finally, what is one belief or practice you changed your mind about recently, with the practical change you made as a result?
I used to have little faith that Western medicine would evolve because of corporate greed. However, I recently learned that LCME is finally requiring nutrition to be a course for medical students. I could not believe we lived in a society where doctors were giving nutrition advice without having taken one course. This is giving me faith that even Western medicine is finally admitting that food can be a medical solution.
