Were you intrigued by our journaling article? That’s not surprising—after all, journaling isn’t only helpful for athletes. If you’re a cheer professional whose mind is constantly racing, it might be time for a “brain drain”—aka writing morning pages.

The practice of writing morning pages is a tenet of The Artist’s Way, a creativity book and lifestyle pioneered by Julia Cameron. The idea is simple: write three pages every morning upon waking to prepare for the day ahead. It doesn’t matter what you write, as long as you write. “It allows you to clear your mind for the day and becomes a moving meditation,” says Kelly Morgan, who has taught an Artist’s Way-inspired course for 20 years. “It helps you get past some of the calcified beliefs you have about your world. This means getting into the present, forgetting about everything else.”

Much like any new endeavor, journaling takes a bit of practice at first. However, the work is often worth it, as Morgan notes that writing morning pages serves to “weed out” some of the negativity and tendency to judge. “Journaling enables people to open up to a different vision, to seeing themselves in a new way,” she says.