Ashleigh Paterson

Ashleigh Paterson is a mindfulness guide, meditation teacher and mother based in Melbourne, Australia, and the person behind Heart Minded, a space of mindfulness for mama and child. She describes Heart Minded as "a gentle space of mindfulness and soul, where the hearts of Mama and Child meet and grow together." Her work is for mothers who want to slow down, soften inward and mother with presence and grace.

Ashleigh lives in Melbourne with her young daughter, who she says inspires her daily to slow down, tune in and mother with presence. Heart Minded grew out of her own experience of motherhood, which she calls both the most beautiful and the most challenging path she has walked, a journey of deep transformation and even deeper connection. She writes that she has been blessed to meet incredible women and families along the way, and that healing and support are found within those connections. Her work is rooted in mindfulness and soul. The material names no teachers, lineage or training.

Ashleigh created Heart Minded as a soft landing place for mamas, a place to reconnect with yourself and your little one amidst the fullness of motherhood. It offers mindful practices and soulful products designed to nourish the bond between mama and child. The site's shop carries tools and rituals for mother and child, and its blog, called the Journal, is organised into Mama, Little Minds and Research sections. Posts draw on research to explain why mindfulness helps. They cover topics such as motherhood sleep deprivation and how mindfulness helps with it, and the gift of restorative yoga nidra for mothers in the exhaustion of early motherhood. One post is a free five-minute meditation for tired mamas. It is written to meet a mother where she is, whether curled beside the cot, standing in the kitchen with a warm cuppa, or cradling her little one close.

Ashleigh also teaches on Insight Timer, where she shares stories, meditations and reflections for the shifting seasons of motherhood, from the tender days of postpartum to the grounding rituals of daily life. She describes each practice as a soft landing: a breath of calm when things feel stretched thin, and a space to return to oneself, to restore, to remember, and to reawaken compassion and steadiness. The practices suit a bedtime wind-down or a quiet moment between the chaos.

The Heart Minded site and Ashleigh's writing draw on research into mindfulness in parenting. They refer to work on resilience and coping with parenting stress, on attachment and co-regulation, on self-compassion, and on attention and social competence in preschool children. Shared moments such as breathing together or grounding touch are described as building secure attachment and soothing both nervous systems.

Heart Minded is for mothers, from those in early postpartum to those in the daily rhythm of raising young children, who want calm, connection and a way back to themselves. Ashleigh writes that Heart Minded is here to walk alongside them and to hold space for their growth, softness and strength, and the sacred bond they nurture every day. She also publishes on Substack and sends a newsletter called Heart Mail, with gentle updates and mindful musings. She replies to messages with care and presence, in the moments between mothering.