Skip to main content
  • Corporate
    • Corporate
    • Adviser
    • Join AIA
    • Get Advice
    • Home Loans
    • Make a Claim
    • About AIA
    • Contact Us
    • MyAIA
  • Search
  • Home
  • Life & Disability
    • Life Insurance
    • Trauma Insurance
    • Total Permanent Disablement Insurance
    • Income Protection Insurance
    • Business & Rural Insurance
  • Health Insurance
    • Private Health
    • Cancer Care
  • Starter Plans
    • AIA Starter Plans
    • Why choose Starter
    • AIA Vitality Starter
    • Manage my plan
  • Help & Support
    • Contact AIA
    • Claims
    • FAQs and Forms
    • My AIA
    • Get advice
    • Earning Airpoints Dollars™
    • Investment Products
    • Policy and Enhancement Information
    • All our locations
    • Vulnerable Customers Support
    • COVID-19 Support
    • Complaints - AIA
  • AIA Vitality
    • What is AIA Vitality
    • Our Partners & Rewards
    • Apple Watch Benefit
    • Content Hub
    • Already a member? Login
  • Content Hub
    • Move Well
    • Think Well
    • Eat Well
    • Plan Well
    • Better Lives with AIA Vitality
  • Get Advice
  • Make a claim
  • Home Loans
  • MyAIA
Menu
  • Corporate
  • Adviser
  • Join AIA
  • Get Advice
  • Home Loans
  • Make a Claim
  • About AIA
  • Contact Us
  • MyAIA
AIA New Zealand AIA New Zealand
  • Life & Disability
    AIA Living

    Life & Disability

    The most important things in your life are your family, your lifestyle and your future. This is what life, trauma and disability insurance are there to protect.

    For Individuals

    For Business

    • Life Insurance

      Protects your loved ones’ future if you're diagnosed with a terminal illness or die.

    • Trauma Insurance

      Supports you and your family while you or your child navigate a serious illness or injury.

    • Total Permanent Disablement Insurance

      Secures your future if a serious illness or injury leaves you permanently disabled.

    • Income Protection Insurance

      Safeguards your ability to earn if you’re unable to work due to illness or injury.

    • Business & Rural Insurance

      Protection for new and existing business owners if a key person becomes seriously ill, is injured, or dies.

  • Health Insurance
    AIA Health

    Health Insurance

    Having good health is invaluable. Remove the worry around unexpected medical bills, focus on the right treatment when and where you need it, and start your recovery sooner.

    • Private Health

      Takes care of your medical expenses for a range of health conditions and provides faster medical care that suits your needs.

    • Cancer Care

      Specialised health insurance that helps cover costs for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.

  • Starter Plans

    AIA Starter Plans

    Simple plans you can buy online today

    • AIA Starter Plans

      Simple plans you can buy online today

    • Why choose Starter

      Learn more about our Starter Plan insurance cover and AIA Vitality Starter

    • AIA Vitality Starter

      Entry level membership automatically included with all AIA Starter Plans.

    • Manage my plan

      Helpful tips on how best to manage your AIA Starter Plan

  • Help & Support

    Help & Support

    We strive to assist you for all your inquiries with high touch customer service.

    Contact AIA
    • Contact AIA

      We strive to assist you for all your inquiries with high touch customer service.

    • Claims

      Get help with making a claim.

    • FAQs and Forms

      Updating policies, moving house, changing names... our FAQs section has all the answers and forms.

    • My AIA

      Previously called MySovereign - our customer portal

    • Get advice

      If you're interested in talking to an insurance expert, we can put you in touch with an adviser in your area.

    • Earning Airpoints Dollars™

      You can earn Airpoints Dollars™ with AIA New Zealand. Find out more.

    • Investment Products

      The latest Sovereign investment performance information, as well as a list of closed and terminated investment products.

    • Policy and Enhancement Information

      Policy and enhancement information for policy holders of current and closed AIA and Sovereign policies.

    • All our locations

      Details of all our office locations across New Zealand

    • Vulnerable Customers Support

      A list of some of the services available in New Zealand that offer support, information and help.

    • COVID-19 Support

      Supporting our customers through Covid-19

    • Complaints - AIA

      If you have a complaint, we’ll do our best to resolve the situation.

  • AIA Vitality

    AIA Vitality

    AIA Vitality encourages and supports you to live a healthier life, while giving you access to great rewards along the way.

    • What is AIA Vitality

      AIA Vitality’s approach can take you on a journey to better health

    • Our Partners & Rewards

      Learn more about the amazing partners and rewards you'll have access to with AIA Vitality

    • Apple Watch Benefit

      Earn an Apple Watch Series 7 by reaching your weekly physical activity targets

    • Content Hub

      Your go to for science-backed, health and wellbeing inspiration and advice.

    • Already a member? Login

      Check your AIA Vitality points status and get access to the tools you need to help improve your health

  • Content Hub

    Content Hub

    Our Content Hub is brought to you by AIA Vitality, the science-backed programme that helps you learn more about your health, offers ways to improve it and motivates you with rewards along the way.

    • Move Well

      Finding your further when it comes to exercise and fitness.

    • Think Well

      Tools and information to help cultivate a healthy frame of mind.

    • Eat Well

      Caring for your body with food that makes you feel good.

    • Plan Well

      Planning for tomorrow matters, because a good tomorrow starts today.

    • Better Lives with AIA Vitality

      Real stories about how AIA Vitality has changed lives and why small steps matter.

  • Search
  • Contact Us
    • Chat with us

      Available Mon-Fri, 8am to 6pm

    • Call Us

      0800 500 108 on Mon-Fri, 8am to 6pm

    • Send us a message

      via our online contact form

    • Talk to an adviser

      Get free expert insurance advice

    • Log in to MyAIA

      (Previously called MySovereign)

Plan Well
Prev | Next
Contact Us
Talk to an Adviser
Back to Top
  • {{title}}

    {{label}}
  • Why isn’t mindfulness working for me?

    AIA Vitality NZ - 5 min read

    06 October 2020

    • Mental Wellbeing

    Have you ever tried mindfulness or meditation and it just hasn’t quite… clicked? AIA Vitality Australia Ambassador Dr. Jaime Lee offers up some encouragement. 

    Sometimes, when something gets heavily commodified or has a sudden surge in popularity – like mindfulness has in recent years – its fundamental purpose can get a little lost in translation. 

    Perhaps you’ve seen people raving about ‘zen’ in the media, or heard from your friends or peers about how they’ve tried it and felt immediately soothed. Maybe they’ve told you all about this incredible peace they’ve felt, or perhaps you’ve scrolled past some of the millions of #mindfulliving posts on Instagram.

    What all of these external factors can often amount to in us is a feeling of expectation. So we go into mindfulness anticipating a feeling of zen, and having a soothing, calming, liberating experience, but things don’t quite live up to those expectations.

    So you grow frustrated with it, you walk away from it, and you don’t try it again.  

    If you can relate to that last paragraph, good. I’m writing this for you. Because you’re just as capable as tapping into the health benefits of mindfulness as anyone else is. Let’s reset what we think we know about mindfulness, and leave some of those expectations at the door…

    Mindfulness isn’t a magic pill we can swallow to make everything better.

    Yes, it can be very useful for anxiety, depression and stress management – but it really is just a mental health tool, and it takes practice to cultivate and develop.

    Mindfulness isn’t something that you can expect ‘quick wins’ from.

    Similar to how you won’t get instantly toned arms from your first 20 push-ups, you won’t tap into all of the benefits of mindfulness in your first session.

    But in the same way just doing 20 push-ups can release endorphins, increase blood flow and still have a good short-term positive impact, your early attempts at mindfulness have wide-ranging benefits too – even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.  

    Mindfulness isn’t just about meditation.

    You can be mindful as you go about your daily life. You can be mindful about the food that you put in your mouth, the songs you listen to, or how you talk to people day-to-day. Meditation and breath work is a more formal practice of mindfulness, but it’s something that can be practiced and cultivated at all times.

    There are two key things I share with my clients before they try mindfulness for the first time. The first is to understand that when you try meditating, thoughts and stories will enter your mind. It will happen. It happens for everyone.

    The second is to go easy on yourself when those thoughts do arise, and to be kind to yourself. Mindfulness isn’t an exercise in blocking out your thoughts – it’s about noticing them, and letting them drift past.

    Once you’ve got your head around all of the above and feel ready to give mindfulness another chance, start small. It could be as little as just taking three slow breaths – a deep inhale, a slow exhale – and noticing how your body feels. And then build that up – five breaths the next day, then 10, then five minutes, then 10 minutes, and so on.

    Then there’s how you meditate. The stereotypical image of meditating might be someone sitting cross-legged on a cushion in the middle of the floor – but that doesn’t mean that’s how you have to do it. If sitting down doesn’t work for you, go for a walk without your phone and note the colour of the trees, or how the breeze feels on your face. Stand up and feel your feet on the floor. Rest against a wall and notice the parts of your back that touch it. Find a way that works for you.

    Ultimately, the practice of mindfulness helps you develop your ‘inner witness’. It’s about you recognising yourself, and that you are not your thoughts and emotions, you are not your situation, you are you.

    If letting go of all of the expectations is the biggest thing you can do to help you on your mindfulness journey, the second biggest is to remember that mindfulness isn’t about focusing on your mind. I think a lot of people can make that mistake, and that’s when those thoughts can come pouring in.

    Mindfulness is about focusing on and paying attention to your body: noticing your breath, some tingles in your feet, maybe a nice warm fuzzy feeling, or some discomfort or pain in your body. It’s about noticing that sensation in the body and letting it go. Feel how you occupy space in the world – your height (head to toes), your breadth (side to side) and your depth (front to back). That’s all it is, and that is the gateway to developing awareness to the here and now, to your own presence.

    Ultimately, the practice of mindfulness helps you develop your ‘inner witness’. It’s about you recognising yourself, and that you are not your thoughts and emotions, you are not your situation, you are you.

    Just being able to name your feelings, notice them, and pay attention to where they’re coming from and where they’re going – that can give you the ability to respond from a place filled with calm and possibility. It can allow you to take back some control. Particularly in our current climate, I think that’s pretty helpful.

    Like anyone, I often find myself thinking or feeling things that I don’t necessarily like. But now that I’ve been cultivating and practicing mindfulness for so long, I am better able to catch them, recognise them for what they are, and let them go.

    I think Victor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist, articulated it best when he said: “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”

    So go on. Be kind to yourself, take it at your own pace, and don’t expect too much. Mindfulness might just work for you after all. 

    "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom" - Victor Frankl

    This is general information only and is not intended as financial, medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a financial adviser, or medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.


    By AIA Vitality NZ
    AIA Vitality Staff writer

    AIA Vitality is a personalised, health and wellbeing programme that supports you every day to make healthier lifestyle choices. Visit aiavitality.co.nz

    FOLLOW



    You might like these

    02 September 2020

    5 ancient ideas to help you thrive today

    Dr. Jaime Lee - 5 min read


    Ancient history is brimming with wisdom that’s as relevant today as it was back then.

    05 August 2020

    5 Life lessons from the world's happiest countries

    AIA Vitality NZ - 5 min read


    What makes Nordic countries so satisfied with life, and what can New Zealand learn from them?

    02 September 2020

    3 surprising ways yoga can boost your health, backed by science

    AIA Vitality NZ - 3.5 min read


    Supplement your fitness routine with a yoga class and improve your physical and mental health dramatically.
    Contact Us

    0800 500 108

    Mon-Fri 8:30am - 5pm

    Live chat

    Mon-Fri 8am - 6pm

    Postal address

    AIA New Zealand Limited
    Private Bag 92499
    Victoria St West
    Auckland 1142

    View all contact options
    CONTACT US

    0800 500 108

    Mon-Fri 8:30am - 5pm

    Live chat
    Mon - Fri 8am to 6pm
    AIA House, 74 Taharoto Road, Takapuna, Auckland 0622, New Zealand
    View all contact options
    Company
    About AIA New Zealand
    Careers
    News and Press
    Sovereign joins AIA
    Our Financial Strength
    Anti-bribery and corruption
    Rainbow Tick
    Vist AIA.com to learn more about AIA Group.
    Quick Links
    AIA Vitality
    Airpoints™
    Our Financial Strength
    Our Commitments
    Our Products
    Life Insurance
    Health Insurance
    Income Protection Insurance
    Business Continuity Cover
    AIA Starter Plans
    GO Home Loans
    Join AIA
    Get Advice
    Company
    About AIA New Zealand
    Careers
    News and Press
    Sovereign joins AIA
    Anti-bribery and corruption
    Our Financial Strength
    Our Commitments
    Rainbow Tick
    Visit AIA.com to learn more about AIA Group.
    Quick links
    AIA Vitality
    Airpoints™
    Home Loans: GO Online login
    MyAIA login
    Investment Products
    Past Insurance Products
    Make a Claim
    FAQs
    Our products
    Life Insurance
    Health Insurance
    Income Protection Insurance
    Business Continuity Cover
    AIA Starter Plans
    GO Home Loans
    Join AIA
    Get Advice

    Copyright © 2022, AIA New Zealand Limited (Company Registration No: 352806), and its affiliates and subsidiaries. All rights reserved.
    Terms of Use | Privacy Statement | Cookie Policy | Duty of Disclosure

    This website uses cookies for the purpose of enhancing your user experience. You can find more information on the types of cookies we collect, what we use these for, and how to manage your cookie settings in our Cookie Policy and Privacy Statement.