We created Retreat to help people improve their lives and overall well-being through psychedelics—starting with microdosing. But we’ll never stop reiterating that microdosing (and psychedelics in general) is not a magic or quick fix. While microdosing might bring specific thought patterns into the sunlight, it’s still you who has to take these epiphanies and integrate them into your life. 

Microdosing offers a variety of benefits that are mental, emotional, and physical—but it’s essential to work with the medicine, your mindset, and your surroundings to achieve the desired outcomes. Like any healthy habit, microdosing requires commitment, structure, and intention to achieve results. 

And, whether you are old or new to microdosing, a guide and protocol will serve you well. Our Free Microdosing Guide is available for an overview for microdosing. And, if you’re ready to dive in but need a little support, we offer 1:1 coaching sessions—life coaching, but with mushrooms. Whether it’s spiritual, emotional, or physical improvements (or all of the above) we’ll pair you with a coach to help you drive the change you’re seeking.

If you’re looking for a community to understand and support your change, you can apply to join our microdosing community. Ready to optimize even further? Read on for our top tips to help you enhance your microdosing experience.

Completely new to microdosing? Give Microdosing 101 a read —and learn about proper dosage—before jumping back into these tips and tricks to make the most of your microdosing journey.

Here’s how to make the most of your journey—macro or micro—with mushrooms.

1. Set Your Intentions and Insights

Let us introduce you to a microdosing maxim: the motive must come before the microdose.

Before you seek psychedelics to incorporate into your morning routine, ask yourself why you’re taking this step. Are you trying to improve your relationship with yourself? Your relationship with your partner? Are you in a creative rut? Are you depressed? Did you meet a very convincing free spirit in line for the bathroom at the bar who told you you just must try microdosing? 

While there is no right or wrong “why”—acknowledging and staying in line with your intention will help you enhance your experience. Though many enter with grandiose, overarching goals, others find success working through smaller objectives each microdosing day. 

Set a small intention at the beginning of each microdosing day. Are you trying to be more patient? Are you trying to be less rushed? More present? 

2. Keep a Journal 

A microdosing journal is a perfect companion to augment awareness and optimize your journey. Though you can take all the creative liberties you can dream up (that’s the joy of journaling, after all), cementing a specific formula for each entry may provide you with greater insight. Start by recording the date, your mindset before the dose, what’s preoccupying you, what you’re grateful for, and how much sleep you got the night before. 

Whether you need 1:1 coaching, or are looking for more in depth answers on how-to microdose or use mushrooms in your daily life, we’ve got answers at Retreat. 

Bookend the day by returning to your journal and narrating how everything unfolded, even the most mundane events. Perhaps, something your annoying coworker said that would normally send you into a tizzy rolled right off your back. Perhaps, you completed all your tasks with energy and optimism to spare. Recording everything–even when the event might not seem like an obvious triumph— will help you better understand if you’re benefiting from microdosing, in both subtle and profound ways. 

3. Track Your Mood Daily 

As you microdose your way toward a happier self, recording your moods is essential to understanding whether you’re taking the right dose and receiving long-term benefits. If you have the chance–start tracking your moods in the month before you begin microdosing to establish your “baseline.” Then save these insights to compare to your moods during your microdosing month and after. 

Your mood tracking ritual can be as simple as recording a single word (or choosing a smiley or angry face on an app like Daylio). Or, it can be a more in-depth part of your journaling routine. 

Be aware that your microdosing moods may not be all smiley faces and rainbows. Just like a physical wound can hurt while healing, repairing emotional and psychological wounds through microdosing may be painful before it gets better. 

4. Practice Mindfulness and Meditation 

Many people find that meditation makes a powerful partner to microdosing. 

Whether it’s walking in nature, practicing yoga, or establishing a breathwork routine–having a mindfulness ritual will help you feel more grounded during your microdosing journey, and after.  It can also serve as a powerful container—or space—for you to set your intentions, recenter on your intentions and your power, and to create space for growth and evolution.

If you’re a mediation newbie, try focusing on a mantra as you sit. Whenever you take your microdose, try mindfully repeating your intention for the day as a mantra: “today I am patient, today I am kind, today I am finding joy, today I am finding peace.” When you’re looking for more, we have 10 complimentary meditations here to help you get more grounded all within our Microdosing Course. There you can find better ways to unwind and refocus your energy with guided meditations and prompts meant to help you explore more about yourself. 

5. Utilize Music & Sound to Enter The Flow State

If you’re microdosing to enhance your creativity and productivity, you’re probably hoping to enter the flow state. Music and sound can help you ease into the flow state, faster. 

Music is proven to encourage the brain to focus. Teresa Lesiuk, a University of Miami professor, discovered that people who listen to music while working complete tasks faster and come up with more creative ideas than those working in silence. 

To make the most of your microdosing journey, explore microdosing playlists on Spotify or YouTube, or create your own! 

6. Seek Community 

The world of microdosing is expanding, rippling through a diversity of communities, from parents to creatives to tech minds. And, because of this, our knowledge base is expanding too. New research and perspectives are proliferating, meaning you’re always an internet search away from at least some of the answers you need. 

Though psychedelics produce highly personal experiences, you can enhance your microdosing journey by sharing it with others. This doesn’t mean you have to coordinate a microdosing ritual with your partner or friend (though that can lead to some wonderful outcomes as well). But, rather, find a group you feel comfortable sharing your fears, joys, and epiphanies with. Whether you find that receptiveness in an old friend, an intentional community like Plant Parenthood, or within the colorful conversations and confessions on Reddit—discussing your experience with others will help you better understand the experience yourself. 

You can apply to join the Retreat, our private online community for holistic and trusted conversations psychedelics by visiting the website or emailing community@retreatmicrodose.com 

Bonus: If you’ve been saving up your vacation days and are ready to undergo a guided microdosing journey under the knowledgeable guide of practiced psychonauts, a psychedelic retreat could be the ultimate way for you to make the most of your journey. We’re launching in-person retreats in 2024 to help you unlock your flow state and maximize your microdosing. 

7. Integrate & Reflect

The best way to grow is to integrate your experiences, e.g. incorporate the lessons and shifts that come up through working with mushrooms. Integration can happen via journaling, reflection, therapy, coaching, or community work—but it takes time, presence, and reflection.