The foundation of Mindful Tactical was built on both professional expertise and deep personal connection.
Melissa Aguirre (learn more about her work with the military here), a yoga therapist and educator, has spent over a decade pioneering mind-body practices in military communities. Her work with Service Members, Veterans, and military families led to the realization that mindfulness and performance training go hand in hand. From opening the first Yoga Studio and Meditation Center on a military base to training military leadership and the Gladiator Program, Mel's experiences naturally evolved into teaching Law Enforcement and tactical professionals, helping them develop resilience, mental acuity, and situational awareness through breath, movement, and mindset training.
Our mission is to hone tactical excellence with mindfulness, empowering presence and precision as proactive health.
From personal wellness, organizational proactive health, and tactical skills- whether you are a civilian, Law Enforcement Officer, Service Member, or competitive shooter looking to enhance your skills, Mindful Tactical offers a unique and intentional approach to training. We are here to help you refine your craft, sharpen your awareness, and develop a mindset of precision and presence—in all domains of life. Mindful Tactical is about fostering a culture of mindfulness, self awareness and stress management.
Mindful Tactical is structured around three core pillars: Presence, Precision, and Performance.
These interwoven disciplines create a comprehensive system that enhances situational awareness, strengthens tactical proficiency, and optimizes human performance both on and off the range. Each pillar represents a different way to train, engage, and refine skills, integrating mindfulness, firearms training, and professional development into a unified approach.
Presence
This pillar trains awareness, emotional regulation, and neurobiological resilience, shaping the mental and emotional infrastructure necessary for health and peak performance. Through yoga, breath control, and self-awareness practices, this pillar refines how we respond to stress, how we manage our energy, and how we maintain control under pressure. Professionals often focus on hard skills, but the soft skills—such as situational awareness, breath discipline, and decision-making under stress—ultimately dictate performance outcomes. Yoga philosophy, practices and tools develop and train presence and is an essential piece of proactive well being.
UNIT REQUESTS | MILITARY SPOUSES | FIRST RESPONDERS | FREE YOGA ON DEMAND
Precision
Precision is the bridge between technique and mastery—the ability to execute an action consistently and accurately with deliberate intention. It is not just about hitting the target but about minimizing variability, maximizing efficiency, and refining movement to its most effective form. This pillar is our mindful marksmanship work. Enhancing weapons qualifications for organizations to improving safety and self awareness in firearms training- our capacity to align the technical skills with presence cultivates precision.
TACTICAL MINDFULNESS TRAINING | THE MINDFUL TACTICAL NOTEBOOK
Performance
Performance is the practical application of Presence and Precision, providing structured training, certification pathways, and skill development programs. This pillar ensures that mental preparedness and technical expertise are translated into real-world competency through education, training, and applied learning. We offer opportunities for individuals, organizations, and teams to enhance mindfulness, tactical skillsets, leadership, and mental performance training methodologies.
History
Melissa Aguirre started her work as a military spouse teaching yoga for the military in 2012. Eventually by 2018 she partnered with the USO and started milmindbody as a holistic based program to address resilience and risk factors in military communities. Today milmindbody has expanded into Mindful Tactical offering a diverse blend of resources for military community, mindful marksmanship, law enforcement and public service domains.
2019- A journey that began as a partnership between MelMarie Yoga and the USO, milmindbody became the first yoga studio to open on a military base at Fort Sam Houston. The milmindbody yoga studio has evolved into a full DOD operated Mindfulness Center on Fort Sam Houston. Though we no longer run the studio, we encourage personnel to utilize the resources at the Vogel Mindfulness Center as they offer yoga classes and mindfulness to personnel and family.
2021- Evolving with the changes from the pandemic Mel was aiding the development and operationalization of Gladiator program, tactical mobility and mindfulness with the Army and also partnered with Humana Military supporting Operation Within, an integrative program that aided military families and communities through food drives, resources and The Operation Within Podcast.
2023- our mission expanded into serving law enforcement and first responders training in Tactical Recovery and Mindfulness along with other stress reduction resources.
Our programs equip the community through learning how to participate in self-care, mindfulness, and stress management modalities to improve equanimity, human performance, self regulation and mental clarity.
We specialize and focus on custom program development and trainings to serve unique communities.
To partner, collaborate or request services and resources, contact mel@melmarieyoga.com for more information on ways to serve proactive wellness in your community.
See inside our work with the Military in this episode from the Live Like You Practice Docuseries exploring ways yoga and mindfulness are optimizing human performance, stress reduction and more.
