Rick Rubin Creative Presence Full Day
Designed by Bearmore
Inspired by Rick RubinWhere did the creative force in you go?
Get out of your own head and back into being creative. A long creative day borrowed from Rick Rubin: meditation and breathwork in the sun, sauna and cold exposure, a walk outdoors, then deep listening, making music and getting creative.
The runsheet
Twenty minutes of TM
Rubin has practised Transcendental Meditation for decades, usually twenty minutes first thing, often sitting up in bed. TM uses a silently repeated mantra; if you don't have one, any word or sound you repeat will work.
20 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing mantra before breath work
This pairing is especially effective because silent chanting settles mind and breath, so structured breathing starts already in smooth rhythm.
Controlled breathing in the sun
Once he’s finished meditating, he goes outside for a few minutes and breathes slowly in the sun. The count is simple, in for five, out for six. That longer exhale is the useful bit.
10 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing breath work before sauna
This can be a good pairing because regulated breathing prepares you to handle sauna heat without feeling smothered.
Use heat
Heat is one half of a deliberate contrast Rubin uses to experience what he calls moments of awe. Let it build slowly and stay with the discomfort. A long hot bath or shower are good substitutes if you don't have a sauna.
25 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing sauna before cold plunge
This is an excellent pairing because the classic hot-then-cold contrast can support circulation, recovery, and alertness.
Into the ice
Straight from the heat into an ice bath, staying as long as he comfortably can. The shock is the point; it drops you fully into the present. A cold shower is a fair substitute, and two to three minutes is plenty.
4 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing cold plunge before being in nature
There's a useful connection here because the plunge wakes the senses, so stepping outside you catch breeze, birdsong, and colour more vividly.
Walk and meditate outside
Rubin walks and often meditates outdoors, knowing that these relaxed walks are often where ideas surface. No phone, and no destination. A slow loop of a park or a quiet street can do the same work as anywhere wilder.
40 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing being in nature before nutrition
This can be a good pairing because a meal afterwards gives time to process any calm feelings from being outdoors.
NutritionLunch, away from screens
60 minA deliberate break between the morning and the creative work. Eat unhurried and stay away from screens.
Bearmore’s thoughts on doing nutrition before listening to music (mindful)
This can help because a settled body after refuelling makes mindful listening feel comfortable and unhurried, especially with gentler music if still full.
Listen to one thing fully
This is the producer's sweet spot: one piece of music, full attention, nothing else to distract you. Rubin listens for what a track needs rather than rushing to judge it. Pick one album, sit, and listen with all of your attention.
30 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing listening to music (mindful) before creating music
This can be a good pairing because composing extends the listening session, turning passive inspiration into active creation.
Work on the music
Rubin's creative time is hands-on work on the music itself. You don't need a studio; any way of creating music will work. Use your voice, an instrument or a repeating sound. The aim is to create, it doesn’t need to arrive at an outcome that makes sense to anyone else.
40 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing creating music before craft
There's a useful connection here because crafting can channel any leftover creative energy into hands-on craft making.
Make something by hand
This session extends his idea that creativity is a way of being rather than a job title: spend the time making something by hand, any medium, with no outcome in mind.
30 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing craft before journaling
This works well because craft can loosen up thoughts, and writing afterwards is a way to catch any insights or feelings that surfaced while making your chosen art.
Write down your ideas
Rubin keeps notebooks to save his ideas before they pass, a habit that runs through The Creative Act. It’s not a neatly kept diary, its a place to collect ideas, messy, finished or unfinsihed.
15 min activityTime well spent.
5h 43m that belonged to you — not the inbox, not anyone else.
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About this Burst
Legendary American record producer and Def Jam co-founder, behind landmark albums across hip-hop, rock and metal. Author of the 2023 bestseller The Creative Act: A Way of Being and host of the Tetragrammaton podcast. Known for a minimalist, contemplative life built on meditation, time in nature and deep presence.