The Full 360

“It’s been about three weeks, and I don’t think the mushrooms like me.”

“Oh, how are you feeling?”

“Well, I just feel SO heavy. Sluggish. Especially around mid-afternoon, I just crash and need to take a nap… and I am not a ‘nap person.’ I’m also waking up wide awake every night between 2 and 3AM, so I’m feeling underslept and irritable during the day. I was hoping to feel uplifted and calm, but I’m feeling low and more anxious. I don’t think microdosing is for me.”

“Has anything else changed in your life in the last three weeks?”

“Oh yes, I stopped drinking, too. I figured if I’m going to begin microdosing I should probably stop drinking alcohol.”

“How often did you drink?”

“Every day. 2-3 glasses of wine usually, maybe more on the weekends. For the last 5-6 years, maybe longer.”

BOOM. 💥

This is a real-world case study I’ve seen very commonly in our Microdosing Community & Programs. When we’re beginning a new lifestyle practice - especially one that has the profound transformational nature of entheogenic ritual - it’s incredibly important that we take the “full 360” view of our lives in the process.

It’s common, especially at the start of a New Year, to try to begin a whole new slate of behavior change and lifestyle practices - intense exercise, crash diets, ‘dry’ January, fasts & cleanses - all at one time. In doing so, it can be more challenging to parse out what change is having what effect. In the common case I shared above, this individual wasn’t having a hard time with microdosing, but rather they were struggling detoxing from alcohol dependency. Waking up between 2-3AM (“liver time” in Chinese medicine), needing to sleep and rest more, feeling anxious, heavy and sluggish are all clear signs and signals that the body is healing and clearing alcohol from the physical body.

One of the advantages of having a coach, guide and community to support your microdosing journey is to have a sounding board, ability to see your blind spots, and have a full 360 review of your lifestyle. I can’t tell you how many massive personal a-ha’s people have on our group calls, where suddenly the dots connect and they can see that - in reality - the mushrooms are actually working very well… sometimes too well!

Fast forward a few weeks, and the individual has incorporated more hydration, liver and physical cleansing support, continued microdosing, and is beginning to feel better than ever… experiencing the clarity and lightness they were hoping for - they just needed to clear the alcohol withdrawal first.

When assessing whether microdosing is appropriate or working for someone, I always take a full 360 of their lives - physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. How much loss have they experienced? What is their primary relationship like? How much responsibility for others do they carry? What is their exercise, nutrition and relationship with their body like? All of these factors will impact their microdosing journey, especially if many changes are being adopted all at once.

Many people who are curious about tapering off their antidepressants and pharmaceutical medications often ask if it’s okay to do it at the same time? In my experience, microdosing can be highly supportive to your tapering process - our new EMPOWER Immersion is designed especially for this - but it’s so important to have support in parsing out what is medication withdrawal vs. what is microdosing. I often encourage people to start with one at first - for example, keep your prescription medication consistent and begin microdosing, or begin your medication taper first - assess your withdrawal symptoms - and then begin supported microdosing.

It’s incredibly illuminating and empowering to begin to feel your body heal, understand your symptoms are just part of the temporary journey, trust they will pass and evolve, and develop within yourself a deeper faith & self-trust. When we’re able to look at our bodies, minds & spirits not simply as ‘parts to fix’ and instead as a symphony orchestra - all interconnected and interdependent - we begin to view our health and lives in an entirely new way.

Ready to explore more? Learn about our EMPOWER Immersion Program HERE, or join our Global Microdosing Community for the New Year HERE.