The soccer coach who led his young team into a Thai cave was once a Buddhist monk — and his expertise in meditation is likely being put to good use, his aunt says.

Ekapol Chathawong, 25, honed the skill during the 10 years he spent in a gilded temple in the northern Thailand mountains, where he still makes frequent visits to meditate with monks.

“He could meditate up to an hour,” said his aunt, Tham Chanthawong. “It has definitely helped him and probably helps the boys to stay calm.”

The boys and their coach were probably overcome by stress during the nine days they spent alone in a dark cave without food — not knowing whether they’d ever be found and rescued, experts said.

“It’s very likely that while the boys were in the cave but not yet discovered by rescuers that they experienced various degrees of anxiety, fear, confusion, vulnerability and dependency, and perhaps hopelessness,” said Paul Auerbach of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University’s medical school.

Even after being found Monday, those fears were replaced with a new set of worries as officials struggle to figure out how to extract them.

“Being discovered was a moment of elation,” Auerbach said, “but that is now followed by the reality that a difficult technical rescue might be necessary, which carries with it disappointment for the boys and a new set of fears.”

But psychology experts also said being surrounded by friends and their coach is probably helping the boys tremendously during their more than 288 hours in the cave.

“I’d speculate it could be helpful — even if it functioned solely as a way for the children to feel like their coach was doing something to help them,” said Michael Poulin, a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. “Feeling loved and cared for is paramount.”

Meditation could also help those trapped manage their anxiety, “allowing their fearful and negative thoughts to flow through them like a storm passing, rather than fighting their fear,” said David Spiegel, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University’s medical school.

The mother of one of the trapped boys, Aisha Wiboonrungrueng, said she has no doubts that the young coach has helped her 11-year-old son’s state of mind.

“Look at how calm they were sitting there waiting. No one was crying or anything. It was astonishing,” she said, referring to a video that captured the moment the boys were found, showing them perched calmly on a rocky slope.

With Post wires