Melinda's Night-To-Day Routine: How To Set Tomorrow Up For Success

Hello Baby2Body readers! This week we're bringing you the rundown of Melinda's night-to-day routine that she swears by to set herself up for success the next day. Melinda is our founder and CEO and she is the true embodiment of the Baby2Body lifestyle and one of the experts behind your workouts, wellbeing support, and nutrition guidance!As a Sports and Exercise Psychologist, Melinda is incredibly tuned into the relationship between our body and mind and how our behaviors can impact our performance. She'll talk about it all below, you'll learn her go-to hacks for sleeping better and waking up more motivated, and you'll find out what nighttime tracker she swears by!

A Sports Psychologist's Night-To-Day Routine

Melinda here! I'm so happy to share my night-to-day routine with you all because it's something I've refined over the years and it's been so influential in establishing how well I sleep and how productive my next day is.

I firmly believe that how we approach our sleeping hours can impact how we handle our waking hours - and vice versa!

Learning how to unwind your mind and calm your body can help you get a good night's sleep and it will make it that much easier to wake up refreshed and ready to take on a new day. That, in turn, can positively impact how successful your day is and how satisfied you feel with yourself and what you've accomplished. 

So let's get into it! Here's a look at my typical night-to-day routine for a better night's sleep and a more motivated morning: 

Calming The Body

I get in a good workout almost every day, but I never skip my quiet, nightly yoga flow. I focus on being very mindful during this time, focusing on how my body is feeling, what it's telling me, and giving it what it needs. This 5-10 minute flow is all about calming my body down and releasing tension built up from the day. My flow changes from night to night, because it really depends on what I need, but I'll spend most of my time in Cat Cow, Lizard pose, and Sphinx. 

Switching Screens Off

Whenever my phone or laptop is on me, I’m working. I'll check emails, respond to messages, work on presentations... I'll just keep going and going. That's why it's so important for me to try and create a bit of screen-free time to let myself disconnect. An hour before I go to bed I put my laptop away, put my phone on Do Not Disturb, and let it charge away from me for the night. 

Unwinding The Mind

Once I've let my body decompress from the day, I take time to quiet my mind. One reason why a lot of people have trouble falling and staying asleep is that their brain keeps trying to process things from the day that they haven't had time to think through. Before I go to bed I write down what happened that day, especially anything that’s still on my mind. I call this my ‘downloading session’. It allows my brain to actively process the day’s eventsso that when I am ready to close my eyes, there will be fewer distracting keeping me awake because I've already given them my attention.*This is why I put my phone and laptop away in the previous step - so new thoughts don't pop in to keep me up and send my mind racing! 

Ready For Bed & My Favorite Nighttime Tracker

After I've done all of that along with my normal nightly personal care, I'm ready for a good night's sleep. Now, as a Sports Psychologist, I've spent a lot of my career working closely with wearable devices and trackers - and I love being able to know what's going on with my body and how that impacts my moods and motivation - even while I sleep!

I recently found a nighttime tracker that I love and want to share with all of our Baby2Body moms: it's the Ava bracelet. I've easily gotten in the habit of wearing my Ava every single night because it's simple to use, comfortable to wear, it fits easily into my nighttime routine, and it really impresses in the tracking department.

The Ava bracelet is a fertility tracking device, and while I'm no longer in the phase of my life where I'm focused on fertility for the purpose of getting pregnant, I know how important it is for women to understand their cycles at any age because it's intricately tied to our overall health.I've used multiple period tracking apps for years, and they've all required me to manually input my information and constantly keep it updated.

I've only been using my Ava bracelet for a few weeks now, but it's already become a key part of my nighttime routine. I love that I only need to wear it at night and it takes care of my tracking needs in one seamless experience.

The Ava records my sleep duration and quality, heart rate variability, resting heart rate and temperature - and there are so many valuable insights I can learn from that information. What really sold me was that I didn't need to input much information into my Ava app. It felt like it knew me right away, and the only thing I had to do was put it on my wrist. I'm so impressed with how much this device is learning about my body everynight.

As you probably know, at Baby2Body we strongly believe that the more you know about yourself, the more in control you can be of your health and wellness. We love anything that helps us understand our bodies better so we can make healthier decisions.

The Ava bracelet has helped me do just that, and I know it can help you become more aware ofand take control of your fertility journey, your menstrual cycles, and support your overall health, too. Your fertile times and period tracking will be one less thing you have to worry about because the Ava bracelet does all the work for you. 

Waking Up & Getting Going

Everything I outlined the night before usually sets me up for a great night's sleep, and that's so important in waking up rested and having a more productive day ahead. After I do wake up I set my Ava bracelet to sync while I hop in the shower and get dressed and ready for the day. 

Switching Screens On

After that initial morning routine, my screens come back on - because I'll admit, I can't be away from work for that long! I'll look at my Ava app to get a sense of my stats from the night (again - the more I know the better!). From there I'll do a quick email check, which helps me get a good sense of the day ahead so I can be ready for what's to come rather than reactive to it. 

Setting Intentions

Once I know what my day looks and I've had a light breakfast or a cup of coffee I'll sit down to set my daily intentions for the day. I always have my notebook on me, so I list out what I want to accomplish that day, how I want to feel, and what I will be proud of getting done. It goes on the list and another day begins. Refreshed, informed, and ready for what's to come. 

 Whether you're TTC or getting back into a regular rhythm after birth, it’s so beneficial to understand how your lifestyle impacts your fertility and overall health. The Ava Bracelet tracks everything from cycles, to symptoms, to sleep and even stress - helping you stay informed and in control. Right now, you can get £20 off an Ava Bracelet with code BABY2BODY.