It can be difficult to build children’s confidence when training them to swim. A swimming instructor, on the other hand, has a mantra that urges his students to be bold and not be afraid of the water. “I’m large. I’m courageous. “I’m stunning.” Tyler Reed, a swim instructor, teaches his students this slogan. He refers to it as the “mermaid mantra,” and he has been using it with small children that require extra supervision and encouragement.

“I think a lot of people look at 2-year-olds and babies as children who are incapable of being able to swim or save themselves, and I’m trying to kind of erase that psyche from them, that they can really do this,” Reed explained.Reed instructs the children to repeat the chant after him and assures them that they are capable of doing so. He recently shared a video on social media in which a 2-year-old kid repeats the mermaid mantra during a swim session.

“I sincerely hope that the children believe what they are saying. “I want them to feel empowered by what they’re saying and to understand that, yes, they’re two years old, and this may be frightening to them,” Reed explained. Reed refers to the arm movement in a specific way. He refers to it as “reach and pull” so that small children can understand it.

It takes a lot of repetition and word association for the kids to really understand what he’s teaching, but it helps program their brain to execute those behaviors and then return to safety.The video became viral three weeks after it was posted, and it currently has 40 million views and over 24,000 comments.The response to his film was overwhelming, but Reed is grateful for the opportunity to raise awareness about water safety and share his technique for instilling confidence in children.

“It’s just a very rewarding experience for me to kind of take what I do every day and have people see the importance of this and have it be a conversation starter,” Reed said. With the rise in global drownings, Reed underlined the significance of learning to swim at a young age. “The reality is that the longer you keep a child in floaties, from the ages of two to five or even older, they develop a false sense of their ability to swim,” Reed observed.

If their child is not enrolled in swim lessons, Reed advised parents to avoid using floating devices and instead hold them in the water. According to him, this strategy allows the infant to experience and comprehend weightlessness. “You’re not giving them a false sense of security, because that’s where these drownings come into play.”Reed’s mermaid mantra appeared to have helped children gain confidence and conquer their concerns of the sea.

According to Reed, the toddler in the viral video learned to swim after a few sessions. He tweeted a video of her development with the message, “I’m one proud swim instructor.”Many of Reed’s students have adopted the mermaid mantra and are now capable swimmers. Alexandra Antorini, a parent of Reed’s two students, attests to Reed’s patience and dedication.

“Just knowing that they can be safe until we can get to them is everything,” she explained. She also revealed that when her 2-year-old son’s chin was injured after falling in the water, Reed calmly requested him to turn over and swim to him. The child was able to swim on his own because of the mermaid mantra he had been teaching the children.Reed offers one last bit of advice for parents when it comes to swim instruction.

“Treat this like a school, as if it were for their education.” It’s even more critical in terms of saving lives.” If you want to learn more about Reed’s swimming lessons, follow them on Instagram.