Doctor Explains Psilocybin Mushroom Dosing

One of the biggest mistakes that people make with psilocybin mushroom dosing is thinking that the number predicts the experience. People are always asking how

experience. People are always asking how many grams of mushroom should I take?

What's a micro dose? What's a macro dose? What does milligrams of psilocybin

dose? What does milligrams of psilocybin analyte even mean? These are all reasonable questions, but what you actually care about is not just the amount of psilocybin mushrooms that

you're taking. What you actually care

you're taking. What you actually care about is where that dose takes you. Hi,

I'm Dr. Tracy Kim Townsen. I'm a

licensed medical doctor, a licensed psilocybin facilitator, and I'm also the co-founder of Meadow, one of the first legal psilocybin mushroom centers based in the US. In my work with people

preparing for legal psilocybin sessions, dosing is one of the most common questions that we hear about. People

want to know what to expect. Too mild,

too intense, or somewhere in the middle.

and they want to know whether they will still feel like themselves, whether they might have a mystical experience or whether they might lose control. And by

the end of this video, you will understand the difference between micro doing and macro doing, the difference between grams of dried mushrooms and milligrams of psilocybin analyte, and

why the same measured dose can create very different experiences in different people. And most importantly, you'll

people. And most importantly, you'll learn how to think about dosing in terms of depth of experience. So let's start with the first distinction that a lot of people miss. Micro doing and macro

people miss. Micro doing and macro dosing are completely different approaches. A micro dose is usually

approaches. A micro dose is usually intended to be subperceptual or a very lightly perceptual dose. You're not

trying to enter a full psychedelic journey or dissolve your ego. It's

really meant just to be a very subtle experience. Someone might take a micro

experience. Someone might take a micro dose and still go about their normal day of work, for example. And the intention is often gentle support for mood, creativity focus emotional

flexibility, or pattern interruption. I

also really like to utilize micro doses in my practice as a bridge therapy for my clients who are wanting to taper off of certain psychiatric medications,

which I talk about in other videos on my channel. A macro dose is on the other

channel. A macro dose is on the other end of the dosing spectrum. A macro dose is a full journey dose. It's meant to create a significant altered or expanded

state of consciousness. And this is where perception, emotion, memory, identity, body sensations, and spiritual experiences can all shift in profound

ways. This is the dose that has been

ways. This is the dose that has been studied in the clinical trials that are making headlines after psilocybin was given breakthrough therapy status by the FDA for the treatment of depression,

anxiety, burnout, substance use, and more. So before asking how much should I

more. So before asking how much should I take, it really helps to ask which category are we even talking about? Are

you looking for a subtle functional experience? Or are you preparing for a

experience? Or are you preparing for a guided journey where the goal is to enter into an expanded state of consciousness for deeper root cause healing? Because those are very

healing? Because those are very different intentions. And the question

different intentions. And the question that I always like to ask next is what depth of experience are you seeking? One

very simple way to think about psychedelic states of consciousness is on a scale from 0 to 5. Let's say that zero represents our ordinary everyday

state of consciousness. We are grounded in our usual sense of self. We have

access to our normal thoughts and identity memories. And we have a normal

identity memories. And we have a normal relationship to base reality. And at

this level, we're generally living inside our usual internal narratives.

And then let's say level one is a very mild shift. We might feel a slight lift

mild shift. We might feel a slight lift in our mood. Music might seem a little more interesting. Nature may just feel

more interesting. Nature may just feel more alive and we're still very much in our usual sense of self but maybe feeling lighter and I would say that this is micro dose territory. Level two

is more noticeable. Colors may seem brighter. Emotions might be closer to

brighter. Emotions might be closer to the surface. We might have new thoughts

the surface. We might have new thoughts about our life or patterns while still feeling oriented into the room. And I

would call this lowd dose territory.

Level three is where it becomes more of a true journey. Our perception changes.

Body sensations become significantly stronger. Emotional material spills

stronger. Emotional material spills forth and we might be able to see ourselves from a wider perspective that's just fundamentally different from our ordinary state of consciousness.

Level four is even deeper territory.

This is where time and space feel significantly altered. There can be

significantly altered. There can be powerful emotional releases, profound insights, or a sense that we are accessing something larger than our

everyday mind. Level five is the

everyday mind. Level five is the mystical or transpersonal end of the spectrum. We might describe it as ego

spectrum. We might describe it as ego disillusion unity timelessness sacredness, or a profound sense of connection with all of existence. And

this level is where someone may temporarily lose access to language, ordinary memory making, motor coordination, and our usual internal narrative. So, as I said, the question

narrative. So, as I said, the question is not only how much mushroom should I take, the better question is what depth of experience am I really prepared for?

And that leads to the part that makes dosing confusing. The dose does not

dosing confusing. The dose does not necessarily equal the depth of experience. So what exactly is happening

experience. So what exactly is happening in the brain as someone moves through these various levels? One important part of the story is the default mode network. You can think of the default

network. You can think of the default mode network in our brain as the part that is involved in constructing our usual sense of self. It helps to create our internal narrative, our identity,

access to particular memories, our conditioning, and the patterns that make up our ordinary waking state of consciousness. In everyday life, this

consciousness. In everyday life, this network is not only useful, it's necessary. It helps us to function, but

necessary. It helps us to function, but it can also keep us inside familiar maladaptive loops. It's the stories that

maladaptive loops. It's the stories that we tell about ourselves, the emotional reactions that we repeat, the old beliefs that we may not even realize are

shaping our reality. So, psilocybin is the primary psychoactive alkyoid found in so-called magic mushrooms. It's the one that's believed to mediate the

psychedelic experience. Though it's

psychedelic experience. Though it's important to note that there are many other alkaloids that play a synergistic role in the anti-depressant and anti-anxiety effects of mushrooms. Once

it's ingested, psilocybin is converted into solosin which crosses the bloodb brain barrier and interacts with serotonin receptors in the brain and

throughout the body especially the 5HC2A receptor. This receptor is highly

receptor. This receptor is highly expressed in our brain's default mode network. And when this receptor gets

network. And when this receptor gets activated by salosin, it decreases activity in the default mode network.

And activity in all these other neural networks increases. Not only that, but

networks increases. Not only that, but there's all this increased cross talk and interconnectivity between brain regions that normally don't talk to each other. That is part of why psilocybin

other. That is part of why psilocybin can feel so transformative. It's not

only that colors look brighter or emotions feel stronger, but at deeper levels, our usual limited and rigid sense of self can begin to loosen. And

that can allow us to see ourselves and our life and our reality from a much more expansive perspective. And this is where dosing becomes really interesting because while the dose may influence how

likely we are to reach these deeper states, it still does not guarantee it.

And people often imagine psilocybin like this volume knob that a little dose gives a small experience and a larger dose gives a large experience. And

there's some truth there. Higher doses

do tend to increase the probability of a deeper, more immersive experience. But a

certain dose does not guarantee a certain depth. Two people can take the

certain depth. Two people can take the same amount of psilocybin mushrooms and have very different journeys. We see

this all the time. One person may feel a gentle emotional opening. Another may

have vivid visuals, intense memories, or a mystical experience on the same dose.

Another person might feel anxious, resistant, or just physically uncomfortable the entire time. And

that's because psychedelics are not like some pill that you take to have a certain effect. How you respond to a

certain effect. How you respond to a given dose depends on several other factors such as your mindset, your body state, medications that are in your

system, previous experiences, your intention, music, the room, the people around you, your felt sense of safety, and your relationship with control

versus surrender. All of that influences

versus surrender. All of that influences the experience nearly as much as the dose that you take. Okay, now that we've said all that, we get to talk about actual numbers for the various doses. I

know a lot of people have been asking for this. When people talk about taking

for this. When people talk about taking mushrooms, they're usually talking in grams. Whether it's 1 g, 3 g, 5 g, grams are measuring the weight of the whole

dried mushroom. Usually could be fresh

dried mushroom. Usually could be fresh mushrooms, too, but usually dried. They

don't tell you exactly how much psilocybin is inside that amount of mushrooms. The amount of psilocybin contained in a whole dried mushroom can vary widely and we test this by testing

the amount of psilocybin analyte in a given sample of mushrooms. Different species of psilocybin containing mushrooms will vary. We work with salosabi cubensus mushrooms and then

within a given species there are different strains which can also vary significantly and even mushrooms within the same batch of a given strain can vary based on genetics, growing

conditions, harvest timing, drying and storage. And this is one of the major

storage. And this is one of the major differences between underground mushroom use and legal psilocybin facilitation services in states like Oregon and Colorado. In underground settings,

Colorado. In underground settings, people usually estimate those by weighing out dried mushrooms and grams. In state regulated systems, mushrooms are grown by licensed growers and tested

in a licensed laboratory. So, we know how many milligs of psilocybin analyte as well as salosin and other alkaloids are present for every package of

mushrooms that somebody takes. Instead

of only saying, "Hey, here's 3 g of mushrooms," we get to say, "This amount of mushrooms contains this measured amount of psilocybin analyte." And this

precision is so nice. It's honestly one of my favorite aspects of working within the legal ecosystem. It makes dosing safer and more transparent, and it really helps us feel more confident

going into the journey. By the way, if you are considering a guided psilocybin macro dose journey, you can go to our practices website. It's meadowmed.org

practices website. It's meadowmed.org and book a free discovery call with one of my teammates. In that call, we can help you understand what the process looks like, whether Meadow may be a good

fit for what you're looking for, and what questions to ask before considering this kind of work. So, what are the rough dosing ranges? We work with a variety of strains of saloscopy cubensus

mushrooms. As I said, in the legal setting, which according to lab testing have anywhere from 2 to 12 mg of psilocybin analyte per gram of whole

dried mushroom, a micro dose is in the range of a fraction of 1 g of dried mushrooms. We're talking about 0.1 to

0.4 g or roughly 0.5 to 1 milligram of psilocybin analyte. Sometimes a little

psilocybin analyte. Sometimes a little more or less depending on the particular strain. A low dose is around 1 to two

strain. A low dose is around 1 to two grams of mushrooms, which depending on potency may correspond to five to 15 milligrams of psilocybin. A solid medium

dose may be around 2 to four grams of dried mushrooms, which depending on potency may correspond to about 15 to 25 milligs of psilocybin analyte. And a

full macro dose journey is around 4 to 10 g or more of dried mushrooms, which corresponds to 25 to 50 milligs of

psilocybin. In most clinical trials, 25

psilocybin. In most clinical trials, 25 mg of synthetic psilocybin is what has been used as a therapeutically significant dose in a supported setting.

Now, that doesn't mean that 25 milligrams is the right dose for everyone, but it does give us a very useful reference point that I like to refer to a lot with our clients. In the

legal setting, we can give up to 50 milligs of psilocybin analyte. And the

main reason why we may give a dose in that upper end of that range is if someone is taking a medication that is known to blunt or diminish the effects of psilocybin. I say more about that in

of psilocybin. I say more about that in other videos. Remember these ranges are

other videos. Remember these ranges are very broad in general. A lower dose does not guarantee an easy experience and a higher dose does not guarantee a mystical experience and a moderate dose

does not guarantee that you will land neatly in the middle. Doing is highly individualized and that's because the medicine acts on your entire psyche.

It's your nervous system that also matters. how much sleep you got, stress

matters. how much sleep you got, stress that you're feeling, medication use, psychiatric history, substance use, trauma history, your relationship, as I

said, with control versus surrender. All

of this matters just as much as dosing.

One person can take two grams and feel a powerful opening. Another person can

powerful opening. Another person can take five grams and remain in their thinking mind. Someone else may take

thinking mind. Someone else may take that same five grams and have a profound mystical experience. And this is why

mystical experience. And this is why responsible dosing begins well before the session begins. It begins with screening as well as thorough medical and psychological history taking as well

as a medication review. We consider all of that with preparation and intention and setting. And as I touched on

and setting. And as I touched on earlier, certain medications can significantly blunt or diminish the effects of psilocybin and other medications raise safety concerns. We

also have to take into account some psychiatric histories, medical conditions, cardiovascular risk, seizure histories and certain patterns of instability which change the

conversation entirely. So before

conversation entirely. So before thinking about the dose, the first question really should be whether psilocybin is appropriate for this person at all. And even when someone is

appropriate and eligible say for psilocybin, the next question is how to guide the experience. This is where set and setting matter so much. A person

taking psilocybin mushrooms in a chaotic environment with people that they don't fully trust will have a very different experience than someone taking the same dose in a calm environment with careful

preparation in a trained facilitator beside them. Another thing I want to

beside them. Another thing I want to touch on is how the in between levels can actually be really tricky. People

often assume that lower doses are easier and higher doses are harder. But in

practice, challenge can happen at any level. At a mild or moderate dose, the

level. At a mild or moderate dose, the medicine may be active enough to bring up emotion and intense body sensations, imagery, or old material while the thinking mind is still very online. Part

of you is opening while another part of you is trying really hard to stay in control. And that can create a lot of

control. And that can create a lot of uncomfortable resistance internally. The

mind may start asking, "Is this working?" or "Am I doing this right?" or

working?" or "Am I doing this right?" or

"What's supposed to happen next?" And

for some people, higher dosing in a supported setting can really help the thinking mind to soften more fully so that the journey can unfold. That has to

be approached very skillfully, though.

More medicine does not automatically mean more healing. A level two or three journey may give someone exactly the insight that they need at a given time.

And a level five journey may be life-changing for one person or destabilizing for another. When I think about dosing, I'm not really asking what's the biggest dose that this person

can handle. I'm asking what depth of

can handle. I'm asking what depth of experience is most likely to serve in this moment. What is your intention?

this moment. What is your intention?

What does your nervous system have capacity for? And what support is

capacity for? And what support is available? So, if you remember one thing

available? So, if you remember one thing from this video, remember this.

Psilocybin dosing is not only about choosing a certain amount. It's about

asking yourself, what depth of experience am I prepared for? There's

still so much more that I can get into about dosing, but those will be subjects for other videos. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments. If you're interested in

comments. If you're interested in learning more about guided psilocybin macro journey experiences with me and my team at Meadow, you can go to meto medicine.org and book a discovery call.

It's totally free. And if you found value in this video, please don't forget to like and subscribe and follow me for more downto-earth education about psychedelics.