A mindful and caring 6-year-old boy named Noah has become a viral sensation after his mother recorded him trying to calm his little brother down by coaching him through deep breathing exercises in the middle of a meltdown.
In the short clip shared to social media, Noah rushes to console his brother Cory after the younger sibling becomes distraught over not being able to play his Nintendo game, according to Pop Sugar
“Breathe,” the young child begins, while using his hands to demonstrate the motions of inhaling and exhaling.
By the end of the coaching session, the 4-year-old had begun to settle down and Noah gave him a pat on the shoulder in approval.
"See? It helps you calm down,” the 6-year-old said.
My four year old was about to have a whole tantrum and my 6 year old helped him manage his breathing so he could calm down…. I’d say I’m doing freaking alright pic.twitter.com/wkGYPn0H4a
— ♥️B⚘ O⚘ Y⚘ MOM♥️ (@Ashleyoutloud) March 15, 2021
On Instagram, the children’s mother wrote how proud she was of her boys for working together through conflict.
“If you know me then you know the kids and I are ALWAYS meditating and practicing controlling our breathing / managing our emotions,” she wrote in the caption.
She later explained that prior to recording the video, Cory was upset that the controller for his game had not fully charged, and Noah stepped in like a model big brother.
"Some of you asked why he was crying, he wanted to play the Nintendo — if you have kids or have been around any you know they think it's fully charged after being plugged for only a millisecond,” she said.
Even before she hit the record button, the mother, who goes by @AshleyOutLoud on Twitter, said Noah was expressing a level of understanding and patience that shocked her.
“Lol y’all would’ve LOST it had I recorded from the very beginning — My baby was all, ‘I understand the pain I do but you just have to wait it’s not done yet,’” she wrote.
On Monday, TV personality Ellen Degeneres acknowledged the little guy’s emotional intelligence, tweeting, “This is a very special young man. Good work, mom.”
This is a very special young man. Good work, mom.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 15, 2021
Other supporters thanked the mom for sharing the heartfelt, tender moment.
“Thank you for teaching our babies to self regulate and manage their feelings in healthy ways. Here’s to bringing up a generation of less of emotionally literate young people,” one person on Twitter wrote.
Another fan of Noah’s work expressed the need for such meditative practices in school settings.
“I keep saying we need meditation to be included in education.all types of breathing exercises for diferent [sic] occasions and the power that it gives us over ourselfs [sic] is amazing,” he wrote.
Despite the outpour of support, Noah’s mother shared that raising a child to have patience and emotional intelligence takes time, acknowledging that her 6-year-old was not always able to express such calmness in similar situations.
"When I tell you all it took us TIME, this is what I mean… his temperament used to be off the chain ! While I can appreciate the flowers and love I am NOT perfect, no mother is. I don’t have all the answers I’m really just TRYING to raise some emotionally healthy kids!" she wrote.
