Microdosing and New Year’s Resolutions

At the start of a new year, many people are thinking about New Year’s Resolutions, and even if you aren’t thinking about resolutions, it’s natural to be in the mindset of ‘new year, fresh start.’ But making changes in our lives, especially the big ones where we are attempting to create new habits, is very challenging, particularly in January. But microdosing can help.

January is a difficult time of the year. Not only is it dark, gray, and cold in many areas of the world, but the time following the holidays can be challenging for numerous other reasons. Have you been thinking about microdosing? Microdosing could help you keep your New Year’s resolutions or be a resolution in itself.

What is Microdosing?

A microdose is a small dose of a psychedelic substance, such as LSD or magic mushrooms. Microdosing is the process of regularly consuming a small quantity to experience the therapeutic benefits without the hallucinogenic experience.

Why Microdose?

As we mentioned, January is a difficult time of year; microdosing can help get your brain back on track and manage symptoms associated with anxiety and depression.

Psychedelics, Seasonal Affective Disorder and Winter Blues

Because of the numerous benefits associated with microdosing you may want to consider making microdosing your New Year’s resolution. It can help with your mental wellness, provide a boost in creativity, focus and so much more.

Learn more about why people microdose and the ways of consuming psilobyin to kick your year off right.

How Microdosing Can Help You Keep New Year’s Resolutions

First, what do we aim to do when we set New Year’s Resolutions?

Typically we are trying to make a change in our lives in some manner. Build new habits or develop new skills for example.

Doing so can be challenging, so we typically have to overcome some resistance and move past some discomfort when it comes to change.

How can microdosing help?

Psilocybin gives us a euphoric and energizing feeling which can help with motivation and optimism. It provides creative energy and opens our neural pathways to new experiences. Others also believe that it can help us to focus.

Additionally, a 2018 study found that a microdose of psilocybin has cognitive-enhancing properties particularly related to divergent thinking and creative problem solving.

These benefits can help us feel inspired, motivated, and focused on the task at hand while also creating an openness to building new habits. It can help you adapt, be more flexible and bring the new thing into your life with more ease.

What’s Next – How to Use Microdosing to Support New Habits

Use the first 30 minutes when the microdose hits to your benefit. This is when you feel the most enthusiastic and open, and neural networks are the most plastic.

Take your regular microdose and when it starts to take effect (approximately 30-45 minutes after consumption) do the new activity you are attempting to build into your life – like journaling, meditating, meal planning, etc.

Do the new activity every time you microdose for at least two weeks. See how it impacts your motivation and supports building the new activity into your routine.

Note, it’s likely that you are only microdosing 3-4 times a week, but if you are trying to build a daily habit, engage in the new activity on your non-microdosing days as well to strengthen the habit. But do take note of how microdosing days impact your practice.

What About Breaking Habits?

Sometimes New Year’s resolutions are focused on breaking habits rather than building them. Microdosing may be able to help with this too.

Preliminary studies suggest that microdosing psilocybin can help break habits associated with addictions, specifically tobacco and alcohol.

Researchers believe psilocybin doesn’t simply support addiction recovery due to a physiological deterrent. Dr. Johnson says, “When administered after careful preparation and in a therapeutic context, psilocybin can lead to deep reflection about one’s life and spark motivation to change.”

The same motivation that helps us build new habits may also help us break old ones if we take the time microdosing to reflect.

How to Start Microdosing

Want to try microdosing this year but not sure where to start? There are a few things to consider when microdosing for the first time.

The first thing to consider is your starting dose. Typically, this dose is described as 1/10th of a dose, but if you’ve never consumed psychedelics, this itself isn’t likely helpful. The goal is to feel the therapeutic benefits without experiencing the hallucinogenic effects.

We recommend starting with a conservative dose and increasing slowly over several days or weeks. Note: on your first day, ensure you don’t have any responsibilities so you can monitor your experience.

It can be beneficial to keep a microdosing journal to track your doses and record your experience easier. We recommend starting by recording your goals and what you hope to get out of the experience so you can reflect on it after several weeks. Then record the date, time and size of your dose (those experienced with psychedelics recommend dosing every three days). After taking the dose, take a few moments at various points throughout the day to record how you’re feeling.

Learn more about microdosing and the different consumption methods for magic mushrooms.

Ready to get started? Check out our microdosing products. You can begin with predosed caps or buy ground mushrooms to measure the dose yourself.

While ground mushrooms have more flexibility in dose, it will be essential to have a scale to ensure you are taking an accurate and consistent amount. You can either put your dose into your capsules or be a bit more creative, such as blending it into a morning smoothie. 

Further Reading

Consider bringing psychedelics and mindfulness together this new year.