How to find your microdosing Sweet Spot?

Have you ever tried to explain how something smells to someone? We’ve all done it despite knowing that the exact experience of a smell cannot be fully described with words.

Knowing our ideal microdosing sweet spot can be a lot like this; hard to define or communicate, and uniquely personal to you.

Microdosing is the regular practice of taking sub-perceptual doses of a psychoactive substance with the aim of long-term benefits such as improved mood, optimized cognition, and creativity.

What is the Sweet Spot?

When it comes to microdosing, the ideal ‘sweet spot’ dosage is different for everyone and can sometimes change over time during our microdosing journey.

A lot like when falling in love, it’s hard to describe but you’ll know when you’re there.

First things first, a microdose, by definition is a tenth or even a twentieth of a macro or recreational dose. Taken a few days apart, and not intended to produce a ‘high’, it can be tricky to pinpoint our ideal minimal effective dose.

The perspective needed here is a wider and longer-term view. It’s not about immediate ‘effects’ but more about the subtle longer-term changes and improvements.

How to find your Sweet Spot

The process of finding your unique sweet spot is pretty straightforward but does require some beta testing and experimentation.

For this article, let’s take psilocybin truffles as an example.

Many start with a dose of 0.5 grams. It’s important to always start on a day when you have no other obligations such as work. This way you can allow yourself to get used to the feeling and explore it fully.

Now let’s say that the 0.5 gram wasn’t sufficient. It didn’t quite do the trick for you and you didn’t notice anything different than normal.

In this case, on your next microdosing day, you can up the dose, for example to 0.75 grams.

Consistently track how you feel and be sure to reflect on your last few days/weeks.

Now with 0.75 grams, you might that it was just a bit too much (anxiety/mild nausea/restlessness), so you decide to lower your dose again on your next microdosing day.

Next time, you choose 0.65 grams. This time, you have hit the bullseye. You’re feeling great and can comfortably tap into a flow state. This is a good sign that you found your sweet spot!

Of course, the above is just one example, but the process always remains the same. Tweaking, journaling, and experimenting until you have found your ideal dose.

By definition, it also means that at least once takes a little bit too much. This is a crucial part of the process so that you learn where your individual limit is when it comes to microdosing.

Don’t worry though, nothing bad will happen and you won’t start to “trip”.

Finding your sweet spot is an important part of microdosing.

How do I know if I’ve taken too much for one dose?

When we have taken more than our ideal sweet spot dose, we can feel a little nauseated, anxious, restless, or even deeply relaxed/sleepy.

Many have compared it with having had that extra cup of coffee.

Taking more than we needed is a feeling that can last from thirty minutes to a few hours.

If we feel that we might have taken a wee bit too much that day, try to eat something, lie down, go for a walk, journal, make art or listen to music.

Remember, this is not a bad thing. Sub-perceptual doses combined with the tracking of cumulative effects are how we know that we’ve found our sweet spot.

Now you are aware of where your limit is, this is a good thing.

The metrics of finding your Sweet Spot

Now that we know the technicals of how to find your sweet spot, let’s have a look at some metrics that we can take into consideration in this journey.

Here below we explore some of the key metrics to look out for and help determine if microdosing is working for us.

The quality of our lives is greatly defined by our daily habits, how we feel in our bodies, and our relationships with others.

Using these three pillars we can begin to define and measure the effects of microdosing.

How our daily habits change

What do we do daily that may be conscious or unconscious, beneficial or detrimental?

Or as I once heard someone say: our schedules and bank statements show us what we value most.

If we had to analyze a pie chart that showed us how we spend our days, what would we notice about ourselves? Would we be faced with the habits we wish to stop someday?

Perhaps we get overwhelmed by the habits we have yet to implement.

A habit is not only what we do but how we do it. How do we spend the first 90 minutes after waking up? What is our bedtime routine? What are we drinking or eating to self-soothe?

What habit do we tap into to start concentrating for the day ahead? What is our time management habit? What do we do on auto-pilot every single day?

Our customers often report that the need to smoke has ‘left’ them and the cravings are virtually gone. Many reports that they have finally implemented that morning run and have been keeping it up.

Others report that previously compulsive behaviors such as constantly checking their phones have significantly decreased.

Last year a study was published reporting that microdosing psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin mushrooms were associated with spontaneous improvements in meditative practice (49% of participants), exercise (49%), eating habits (36%), and sleep (29%); and with reduced use of caffeine (44%), alcohol (42%) and tobacco (21%).

This shows us that microdosing is potentially an excellent catalyst for releasing ineffective habits and replacing them with habits that serve us better.

How we feel in our bodies

How we feel in our bodies largely commands our actions in the short and long term.

If we are feeling anxious or overwhelmed we are more prone to do whatever is needed to immediately feel better (self-soothe and self-medicate).

If we’re not sleeping well, managing brain fog, and/or dealing with creative block, in the long term such unresolved issues can significantly dictate our quality of life.

Microdosing has anecdotal evidence to show that its neuroplastic properties can help with issues like depression, ADHD, OCD, insomnia, cognitive capacity, creative output, etc.

Dealing with issues like sleep quality, compulsive behaviors, mood imbalances, and productivity can quite literally define our day and soon enough, our lives.

Improvements in these areas mean that the self-soothing tactics we’ve previously used are not required, eliminating the problem right at the source.

Feeling better in our bodies allows for better food choices, more enthusiasm for physical activity, and more energy to live our lives optimally.

How our relationships inform us

Our relationships at home, at work, and in the world overall are excellent mirrors of our state of mind.

Over the last 60 years, thousands of studies have been conducted proving the causal link between quality relationships and optimal physical health.

How do we respond to a loved one’s affection? How often do we get road rage? How available are we for our children? Do we feel crippling nervousness when public speaking? Does our spouse/partner feel heard and understood by us?

The old saying is: “Happy wife, happy life.” but in fact, this can be said about any relationship that matters to us. Whether or not we show up, and how we show up, how open and available, and present we are can not only make or break a personal relationship but also professional ones.

Our capacity to give or receive care, affection and consideration all have a big impact on our quality of life. By being a more pleasant person to be around, the world consequently feels lighter, brighter, and more loving.

Once you have found your sweet spot your microdosing practice gets easier and more powerful.

Conclusion

Finding our sweet spot for microdosing requires some work and a bit of an experimental mindset. But once we have found it, it’s definitely worth the challenge.

While tweaking our dose it can help to ask ourselves the following questions:

Do I feel more present in my body?
Do I wake up feeling refreshed?
Is my pet more affectionate lately?
Did I forget to have road rage today?
Is my yoga practice more balanced?
Am I more easygoing/enthusiastic overall?
Has my ability to focus changed/improved?
Have strangers given me compliments lately?
Have I noticed a reduced craving for XYZ bad habit?
Have I been able to easily implement XYZ new habit?
Do I notice myself singing a song or whistling a tune?
Are the OCD/ADHD symptoms more manageable lately?
Have my loved ones mentioned that my mood seems to have improved?
Am I feeling more buoyant, more capable of dealing with life in general?
Did I pick up the pen/paintbrush/musical instrument again after a long absence?

To close off, a recent Johns Hopkin study has reported that:

“Critically, even the lowest amount used in the study resulted in notable and long-lasting positive changes in the attitudes, behavior, overall satisfaction, and spiritual beliefs of the subjects during the period of study. These changes were also noticed by family members and friends.

We seem to have found levels of the substance and particular conditions for its use that give a high probability of a profound and beneficial experience, a low enough probability of psychological struggle, and very little risk of any actual harm,” says the lead author of the study, Roland Griffiths, Ph.D.”

Sometimes, we notice a change in us after just a few days of microdosing. Sometimes, it can take a few weeks.

The best way to figure all of this out is by journaling daily, tracking our progress, analyzing our data, and asking the people in our lives for feedback.

Use our free template on Notion to track your progress. Notion is a free platform where you can edit the template to create your private microdosing log.

The name of the microdosing game is minimally effective doses, with breaks, resulting in positive outcomes over time.

Are you ready to find your Sweet Spot? For the newbies: you can get started with microdosing here. For the more experienced Micronauts, explore what stacking can do for you by checking out our High Vibration Pack.