Paula's Creative Approach to Microdosing
Different Medicines, Different Effects
For older adults, microdosing psychedelics can be an especially attractive proposition. When done properly, the psychoactive effects at these very low doses are overtly imperceptible. And yet, as I and many of my peers have experienced, following a microdosing regimen can be remarkably effective at reducing anxiety and improving overall wellbeing.
These and other commonly claimed benefits of microdosing have not been definitively validated by researchers. But even if you chalk it all up to the placebo effect, who couldn’t use a little boost in wellbeing these days? Especially when there appears to be very little downside?*
Psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and LSD are the most common psychedelics used for microdosing. But I’m hearing reports from older folks who are microdosing other medicines, including ayahuasca and even ibogaine. As would be expected, even at microdosed levels, each of these medicines have different effects. That’s what I heard most recently, from Paula (not her real name).
I first interviewed Paula for my book over a year ago, when she was in her mid-sixties. At the time, she was relatively new to psychedelics, and had been working to great effect with ketamine, psilocybin and MDMA to balance a nervous system dysregulated by trauma.
When Paula recently posted on a Signal group thread about her unique microdosing practice, it felt like a great opportunity to renew our conversation. Paula is especially articulate about the subtlety and nuance that can be found in microdosing, and I asked her if she would share some of her insights with the readers of this newsletter.
Paula: I actually started microdosing in between bigger ceremonies. The idea was to build on and integrate the foundation that a macro ceremony gives you. That experience can be so powerful, and I wanted to reinforce it and grow it and expand it.
What happens for me during a macro journey has a lot to do with reconnecting to the vibrational space. And with the smaller microdoses, you can keep that connection going intentionally while you’re still living in the present moment. It’s a very intentional kind of integration, going about the day but experiencing it in more of a flow state…
Can you describe your microdosing regimen?
I originally started microdosing with psilocybin. But I also microdose LSD, and I’ve recently started working with huachuma (a mescaline-containing cactus also known as San Pedro, sacred to indigenous people of the Andes).
They all offer a little bit of something different. Even microdosing with cacao and cannabis can create these really transformative experiences. Each one brings a different kind of support to me in life…
For example, I find the mushrooms are really effective at supporting nervous system regulation. They’re also beneficial from a cognitive perspective. When I microdose psilocybin, it opens me up to new ideas.
I often dose at night, before I go to sleep. When we’re asleep, there’s no real agenda or resistance. It’s all sort of happening between the body and the mind and the medicine. The ego is out of the way…
Then, when I wake up in the morning, things are different. New thinking. New ideas. Maybe a new context to what may or may not be going on in my life.
How do you experience microdosing other medicines?
The mushrooms are more of a whole-body experience, I find LSD is more in my mind. LSD is very effective with a particular set of features that have to do with depression. It gives a lift in mood that can be very fun. It also gives me back my sense of humor in a very easy and quick way.
I recently did a course on microdosing huachuma. That’s a really powerful medicine. It has a mystical quality to it that gets to the heart center. I’ve done some extraordinary inner work on it – looking in the mirror and doing these gestures of self-care. And really connecting with my “little ones”** that need to be seen and heard.
The protocol I’m following is to microdose three times a week. But even on those small doses, the experiences have been powerful enough that I felt like I needed more time in between doses to integrate them. If I notice something significant – a shift in my mind, body or heart realm - I’ll live with that for days and revisit it over and over.
I’ve also started practicing Qigong, which is very energy based. Yes, I can microdose and then do a Qigong class. Because you intentionally ingested this living plant and met with its own energy, it creates a whole awareness which enhances the practice.
In what other ways does your microdosing practice affect your life?
We learned in our coaching to choose nervous system regulation as the focus of our microdosing practice. You’re approaching life from a much different point of view if you can stay in a stable, steady and grounded state, Then you can offer that point of view to others.
You know, we move along the trajectory of life – there’s education and marriage and jobs – all the things humans do. And now there’s this opportunity to come back around and reconnect. And these plant medicines, even at these very low doses, are wonderful for that. For this sustained, everyday practice.
As elders, now that we have this wisdom, maybe we can see ourselves as stepping back into the role of wisdom keepers… I’m especially interested in reconnecting relationally. Sometimes as we do this work we focus on the internal. But it’s also about reconnecting with other humans. In community.
Interested in learning more about microdosing? Psychedelic elder Jim Fadiman has a new book out, Microdosing for Health, Healing and Enhanced Performance, co-written with Jordan Gruber.
*There is, of course, risk associated with using illegal substances. And for older adults in particular, even before taking microdoses, it is important to check if there are any contraindications with one’s medications..
** Paula’s reference to her “little ones” is grounded in the Internal Family Systems approach to psychotherapy, which encourages the patient to identify, access and heal their wounded parts.