I feel the presence of the Coronavirus anxiety demons.

On the surface: the stubble of three days without shaving; an empty Häagen-Dazs container and a physique slowly morphing into Papa Blue Smurf; in the corner of my closet an accumulating pile of laundry measures my lurking discontent.

Seeping within: dark feelings of helplessness and desolation; the futility of it all as I watch the myth of America exposed, the curtains of liberty, justice and equality violently pulled apart.

I’m heading toward a place I do not want to occupy while sheltering in place. I feel as if I’m struggling to survive. My sympathetic nervous system is a Swat team waiting to bust down the door holding my turmoil in check.

I must calm myself. Heightened anxiety is not helpful as we adjust to four walls and twenty-four/seven of the same, unrelenting dirge. If I am to face down the side effects of the pandemic, I must calm myself.

I know how to do it. To relax I must access the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for the body’s metabolic process. I must breathe, consciously breathe, literally following a breathing pattern that will connect me to the basic wellspring of existence.

By consciously breathing I can regulate my emotional state and preoccupation with distracting thoughts. As I become still, I connect with a higher state of consciousness, or “spirit,” that leads to a peaceful state of mind. Feeling calm, with my responses rooted in relaxation rather than acute anxiety, I feel love rather than fear. And since feelings, thoughts and behaviors are interrelated… then I can control the anxiety that threatens my state of mind.

I’m not flouting some eye-rolling psycho-babble. Follow this exercise and you’ll feel for yourself the power of conscious breathing.

Sit quietly and notice where in your body you feel the tension. Remember that the tension is something you “have,” it is not who you “are.”

Give the tension a color and shape to help you detach it from your body. Simply observe it as an image in your mind. Note on a scale of 1 to 10 the level of your feelings triggered by the picture you have created.

Now just breathe and watch the image. Breathe and watch. Breathe and watch. Given your full attention the image will change color and/or shape.

Continue to breathe and watch. The color will change its hue; the shape will get bigger or smaller.

The stressful tension you have pictured will either get very strong and then dissipate… or get very weak and then dissipate. But one way or the other, it will dissipate!

If during your hectic schedule you can commit five minutes to settle yourself in peace and stillness, it will make an enormous difference in how you feel and how you conduct yourself throughout the day. When you are at peace, the energy of your physical body takes the shape of what is known as the Divine Will, and you will become more fully aware of who you are and whom you are meant to be.

We cannot control the existence of the Coronavirus. We can control how we respond to its debilitating presence.