Meditation and microdosing: an iconic duo. Individually, both of these practices are like hygiene for the brain. Together, they hold even more powerful! Although they work exceptionally alongside one another, we will be going over how they can boost your cognitive function separately and as a unit.
When it comes down to it, brain health is possibly one of the most underrated forms of self-care. If your brain health is not tended to, you will likely suffer as a whole. Cognitive function is just one of the countless benefits of looking after your brain.
Let’s go over how you can boost your brain with these two impactful methods! But first, let’s look at what is meditation, what is microdosing and what is cognitive function before diving in the link between the 3.
What is meditation?
Of course, we will begin with the basics. Essentially, meditation is a unique practice where an individual uses specific techniques, such as mindful thought(s) or focusing the mind on a particular object/thought/activity.
This trains your brain to increase its attention and awareness capacity. This allows an individual to achieve greater mental clarity and emotional control/stability. Meditation is an ancient practice that has been played a massive role in the evolution of human spirituality.
Today, it is still practiced with the motive of spiritual enhancements, however, it is also commonly practiced solely for brain-boosting benefits.
What is mircodosing?
This can be explained as an act of ingesting a micro-amount of a psychedelic substance. This dose is so small that it offers no psychoactive effects, meaning you will not get high if you are doing it right!
Although you do not receive a ‘high’ from this practice, you can expect to feel the subtle effects microdosing has to offer during dose days. Along with enhanced cognitive function, you can also expect advancements in other areas of your life such as boosted creativity, wellbeing, performance and more!
You can look at this as a tool to enhance your life in multiple areas without the dedication of a full-on psychedelic trip.
What is cognitive function?
Before getting into how the two above practices improve cognitive function, it is probably important to know exactly what cognitive function is! This can be explained by a set of skills and/or functions.
Cognitive abilities are brain-based skills that are needed in acquisition of knowledge, reasoning and manipulation of information. That being said, these are extremely important brain-based skills that you depend on to function during your day-to-day life.
The better these functions perform, the better you perform! Cognitive function gets a lot of attention in the brain health community, and for good reason, too!
How these two practices work as cognitive enhancers
To simplify, I will break the two cognitive enhancers (meditation and microdosing) into two sections and go over the role they play in this topic.
Meditation– Thanks to the world of science, we have evidence that meditation is a cognitive enhancer! A growing body of evidence on the subject suggests that meditation enhances multiple cognitive functions. Some include but are not limited to attention, memory, focus. As we grow older, these specific cognitive functions decline rapidly. Meditation may be a helpful tool for those approaching their later years.
Nowadays, there is even mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) you can attend! This therapy is practiced by using techniques such as mindfulness meditation with the motive to teach people to consciously pay attention to the nature of their thoughts and feelings without giving them the power of judgment. It is safe to say that meditation is the future for natural cognitive enhancers!
Microdosing– Hippies have been saying for years about the mind-expanding properties of psychedelics! Finally, the science community is beginning to listen. Although we are conducting more psychedelic studies than ever before, we are only getting started. We have so, so much to learn when it comes to the phenomenon of the impact psychedelics leave on our brains.
One study, in particular, looked at LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and the brain. The study observed that LSD in small doses resulted in subtle effects on wellbeing and cognitive function(s). If taking microdoses of LSD over the duration of a clinical study can improve wellbeing and cognitive function, imagine what microdosing LSD can do for your brain long-term.
How microdosing can enhance your meditation practice
Before closing this article, I think it is also very important to note that microdosing alongside meditation will help you in unlocking your full potential during your practice!
Taking a microdose feels like a breath of fresh air. It can make you feel more sharp, focused, and level headed. Thanks to its wellbeing properties, you can expect to feel more centered as a whole after a dose day. Not to mention, many microdosers report that it has helped them manage stress and reduce anxiety. Since meditation is ‘easiest’ when you are in a relaxed and stress free-state, microdosing is an exceptional tool for your practice.
Both of these practices will enhance your life. When you put the two together, get ready for some serious magic! Microdosing helps you feel more in-tune with yourself and your surroundings with less effort than you may usually need, while meditation is the practice you use to exercise/amplify a sense of unity with yourself and your surroundings…. Do yourself a favour- take a microdose and enjoy a mediation session! Your brain is going to thank you for it!
Final Thoughts
Of course, meditation is something that is learned and ‘perfected’ over time, like many things. Microdosing is an extremely suitable tool to help you get to where you would like to be with your practice and can be applied to both beginners and advanced individuals!
I will also add that you will gain the best results if you are putting in some effort in other areas. For example, eating healthy and nourishing brain food alongside these practices will help with enhancing cognitive function(s). Staying active and doing something that challenges your brain every day are also great ways to help boost your brain!
Start today and enhance your cognitive function with meditation and microdosing!