The Healing Power of Exercise: Why 30 Minutes of Aerobic Exercise Can Retrieve Attention Stolen by Anxiety? Psychologists Reveal the Brain Repair Code

Anxiety Dilemma: The Real Experience of Drifting Attention

Thinking about the deadline this afternoon, anxiety surges, forcing yourself to calm down, but colleagues walking around distract you, thoughts racing uncontrollably. Half an hour passes without adding a single word to the PPT, making you even more anxious.

Anxiety's Attention Dilemma

For those often feeling anxious, when anxiety floods the brain like rising tide, attention becomes a boat drifting with the current—unable to grasp what should be held, unable to shake off what should be ignored. More frustratingly, we always think this is lack of willpower, unaware that anxiety has quietly changed how the brain processes information.

Scientific Experiment: How Aerobic Exercise Repairs Brain Attention Systems

Through attention control studies on chronically anxious populations, scientists found aerobic exercise might be the solution to help people retrieve their attention.

Brain Attention Indicator: Distractor Positivity (Pd)

By monitoring brain activity, scientists identified an indicator called distractor positivity (Pd), reflecting the brain's ability to maintain focus: - **Successfully suppressing interference**: Larger Pd amplitude - **Unable to maintain focus**: Smaller Pd amplitude

Brain Mechanism: How Anxiety Damages Attention Filtering Systems

Built-in Attention Filtering System

The brain has a built-in attention filtering system that normally accurately selects important information (interview time/location, loved one's emotions) while blocking irrelevant distractions (window noise, phone vibrations).

Anxiety's Damaging Effects

Chronic anxiety reduces filtering system efficiency: - **Unable to retain necessary information** - **Unable to filter out distractions** - **Weakened ability to select information and suppress interference**

Vicious Cycle

The more you try to concentrate, the more you notice yourself drifting; noticing distraction leads to self-blame, worsening anxiety, making even simplest tasks difficult.

Exercise Repair: Awakening the Prefrontal "Attention Commander"

Exercise Effect Validation

Research found that after 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise: - **Behavioral level**: No significant difference from control group - **Brain activity level**: Target information acquisition and interference suppression abilities significantly improved - **Exercise intensity**: Slightly increased heart rate, light sweating, able to speak normally

Repair Principle

During exercise, increased heart pumping sends more oxygen to the prefrontal cortex: - **Prefrontal role**: Like an attention commander, responsible for directing what to focus on and ignore - **Anxiety state**: Commander always dozing off - **Exercise effect**: Awakens commander, making it grasp the baton again

Neural Rehabilitation Training

Neural circuits responsible for attention control become lazy due to anxiety; exercise is like rehabilitation training for these neurons—each 30-minute bike ride fuels the attention commander.

Research Limitations and Value: Simple Feasible Attention Repair Solution

Research Limitations

- Only observed short-term effects after single exercise session - Long-term effects of consistent exercise need further study

Practical Value

Provides simple feasible methods to improve attention, letting us know exercise not only builds the body but also quietly changes the brain, retrieving lost focus.

Three Small Habits: Daily Practices for Attention Return

Habit One: 30 Minutes of Rhythmic Moderate-Intensity Exercise

- **No need for gym**: Neighborhood brisk walking, stationary biking, video workouts - **Effect**: Synchronizes brain attention systems, like tuning a chaotic radio to the right channel

Habit Two: Practice Selective Ignoring in Daily Tasks

- **During meals**: Put phone aside, focus on food taste and eating itself - **During commute**: Only observe trees outside windows, ignore roadside billboards - **Effect**: Helps brain restore filtering ability, reduces distraction influence

Habit Three: Record Attention Diary

- **Time**: 5 minutes each evening - **Content**: Record moments of maintained focus and distraction - **Examples**: "After biking this afternoon, wasn't disturbed by WeChat while editing report"; "No exercise this morning, kept zoning out during meeting" - **Purpose**: Discover exercise-attention connection, find personal focus patterns

Anxiety Isn't a Defect, Exercise is the Gentlest Repair

High anxiety is never a personality defect—just the brain's attention system temporarily malfunctioning. Exercise might be the gentlest repair method—not fighting, not forcing, just letting the body move, allowing the brain to rediscover focus power in the rhythm of breathing and heartbeat.

Being able to steadily complete one thing is itself the most powerful response to anxiety.

Use exercise to retrieve attention stolen by anxiety, making every focused moment a powerful weapon against anxiety.