Meet Trish Hart: Shining Her Unique Light on Wellness

Trish Hart of Hart Body Mind Solutions follows her North Star. An unexpected divorce in her late 30s set her on a path of self-discovery that has led to fruitful, incredibly joyful personal and career paths!

RCG: Hi Trish! Thank you so much for being here!

Trish: Thank you so much for having me!

Discovering more about Trish Hart’s path:

RCG: Let’s begin by discussing the first steps you’ve taken along the path that have brought you to where you are today.

Trish: Sure! Believe it or not, I’m from corporate finance and public accounting background, and my specialty has been health care administration for most of my career. I stayed home for ten years to raise my children, and in my mid-30s, I went through a divorce that changed my life.

Looking back on it, it was the most challenging time of my life. I was raising two small children, my mother was ill and eventually passed, and I had a long, complex divorce that lasted 14 years. I should get the prize for one of the longest divorces ever, and it felt like I went through three by the time all the assets were split.

From all of this, I had a tremendous amount of trauma and needed to work through it, so at 40 years old, I met my second husband and became a marathon runner with him by my side. It was incredibly therapeutic because the repetitive movement would allow me to release stored emotions. You would see me running down Jerusalem Road with tears in my eyes. It was so hard but so good!

Unfortunately, while training for my last marathon, the Marine Corp. in Washington D.C., I became injured and was told I needed surgery. I knew I couldn’t stop moving, so I began practicing yoga using one foot and meditation daily. Reflecting on my marathon training programs, I wish I had added more yoga while training because I know it could have kept my body flexible and injury-free.

RCG: That’s how you started!

How she developed her professional practice:

Trish: Yes. I completed my first teacher training at Balance Studio in Cohasset, which pivoted my life in a new direction.

Shortly after, a yellow brick road led me back to MGH, where I had worked for many years on the financial administration side, to the Benson-Henry Institute, where I began my deeper studies into mind-body medicine.

At the same time, I completed my 500-hour training in therapeutic yoga and worked in mental health at the Center for Integrative Counseling and Wellness for seven years. I love working in mental health, supporting patients with mind-body interventions in conjunction with therapy provided by clinicians.

Many more trainings later in many mind-body modalities, i.e., yoga for sub- specialties (autoimmune diseases, cancer, etc.), trauma certification plus week-long silent retreats in meditation and mindfulness, launched me into creating my courses on various topics ranging from stress management, sleep hygiene, burnout, habit formation, etc.

In addition, during that time, a client asked me to bring my work to the Harvard Kennedy School to teach a larger audience. That was a breakthrough for me, and it has evolved so that I work at several other Harvard schools and several employee assistance programs, wellness divisions all over the country.

RCG: Wow! I had no idea you were doing so much work in the corporate sector.

Trish: I know! Many people don’t know that about me because I am better known for being a yoga and meditation instructor because of my past ambassadorships with lululemon and teaching at balance and beach yoga.

Trish Hart and her sound healing practice:

Also, one of my passions is providing individual sound healing sessions. I have been a musician all my life, and during COVID, I began transformational sound healing training with a teacher from Nepal in the Himalayas over zoom. It is incredible how powerful sound healing is and how much science supports its benefits of re-regulating the nervous system and healing the body.

RCG: Fascinating! How do you bring sound healing to your clients?

Trish: When working with a client, I use my Tibetan bowls systematically where they are needed on and around a client’s body. The sound stimulates the vagus nerve, which plays a primary role in eliciting the body’s relaxation response, which is the antidote for stress and trauma.

RCG: I want to try this.

Trish: You would love it. Sound heals without words from the inside out. Your body is always a witness to what has happened in our lives, even if our minds disassociate.

RCG: I’m intrigued, to say the least!

What would you say to someone trying to find their path?

Trish Hart’s advice on finding your path:

Trish: So much comes down to learning who you are and evolves from a journey of listening deeply with awareness. You can question, “What am I good at? What are my gifts? Where is there a need, and what community can I build?

No matter what you do – it must come from the heart. Do something that feels good to you and is authentic!

It’s also essential to place firm boundaries around who you are and your work. It was challenging for me when I first began working in mental health.

And lastly, don’t be afraid! Listen.

RCG: Great advice!

Trish: It’s so important and helpful to find your community. I try to connect with many different women’s groups, and we all support each other… don’t be afraid to connect with other women as allies versus competition.

Where she loves to practice and her gurus:

RCG: Are there places you like to go to practice?

Trish: For yoga, Balance Studio is my first choice around here! For meditation, my favorite is the Insight Meditation Center in Cambridge, MA, and the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA.

I’m a longtime devotee and trained Ananda meditation teacher from the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. I have studied under one of his proteges in Northern California.
I follow and learn from many gurus and am grateful for all of their wisdom and teachings.

RCG: Do you have other perspectives to offer women on getting started?

Her most personal, heartfelt advice:

Trish: Generally, the lessons all come down to being authentic with your life. Put yourself in relationships that feel right to you, not what the outside world expects of you. Also, be open to connection. If your eyes are open, your heart will open, and you will find your people!

And remember to be happy! Be joyous! That’s what we’re all here to do.

RCG: Sadly, losing our connection to who we are is so easy.

Trish: Yes. So true. Sometimes we get so burdened by expectations from others. Remember to be compassionate with yourself. Say, “I love you,” and accept yourself. Give yourself more hugs.

RCG: Awww. Such great advice. I also wanted to ask, where do you connect the most with beauty?

Where Trish Hart connects most with beauty:

Trish: Sedona. I love Sedona because I can be anonymous. I can walk out of my stress and enjoy nature. While hiking, I often stop and think, “Is this even real?” The blue sky, the red rocks, the flowers. It’s all so breathtaking.

I also love the ocean. I truly enjoy the contrast between the two.

RCG: What do you like to do for fun?

Trish: Besides being with my family and mind-body practices, I love gardening, hiking, and trampolining! Endorphins and serotonin are created from movement and make for great sleep!

RCG: Sounds like a lot of fun!
What do you think about the new movement toward somatic healing? Maybe it’s not new, but I keep seeing it all around lately.

Her thoughts on somatic healing:

Trish: It’s so important. I’m training with Steven Porgis, who specializes in therapeutic yoga and somatic healing. He teaches what we know to be true. We have trauma that gets stuck in our bodies, and we need to stamp it out, shake it out, and scream it out. We need to let it out! Let it go!

RCG: Are there any books you could recommend to get started?

Trish: Absolutely! The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
This book is a phenomenal entry to learning about how trauma is stored in the body.

RCG: For readers that live in Boston or on the South Shore, where can they find you teaching?

Trish: I lead community meditations at 7 am on Fridays on Nantasket Beach (right the across from The Paragon boardwalk and Arcade). Starting in September, I will be teaching inside at the same time at Balance Studio.

Throughout the summer, I also hold beach yoga classes accompanied by my husband, Matt, on guitar, at the same place at 8 am on Sundays.

I also have an office at Balance Studio, where I offer private therapeutic mind-body, Stress Management sessions, and Sound Healing treatments.

RCG: Wow! You’ve given me so much to think about. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

Trish: My pleasure!

Learn more about Trish Hart at Hart Mind Body Solutions.
You can schedule a private session with Trish on her site. Also, click on her site to see her full calendar and learn about the fabulous retreats she runs in Sedona (hiking, wine tasting with a master sommelier, and myofascial release expert – sounds good to me!).

Follow Trish Hart on LinkedIn, Facebook, or her Instagram account here.