Madi Diaz knows that self-care is crucial to mental health.

Backstage at SXSW, the singer-songwriter explains to SPIN how she came to that relization. She says that, after many years of not making it a priority, she’s now “much better at making the time” for herself, which in turn has improved her lifestyle as a touring musician.

“I try to wake up early and go for a lot of walks,” she says. “Journaling has been actually very life-saving for me. Songwriting is absolutely part of the process. […] And I go to therapy.”

While she feels that journaling is putting her immediate thoughts on the page, Diaz likens her songwriting process to “keeping a muscle toned,” allowing her to uncover what she’s truly feeling.

“I think [with] journaling, as a practice, things just kind of start to fall out, and songwriting is kind of like that too,” Diaz says. “I feel like I never really know what is going on with me until I’m singing about it or writing about it.”