The ‘Microdosing and Meditation Study’ is aiming to observe how meditation skills evolve over three months of regular meditation practice and whether, how, and for whom microdosing may impact these skills.
Despite the growing evidence of overlap between the neurophysiology and phenomenology of psychedelic drug-induced states and contemplative practices, no research to date has specifically assessed the effect of microdosing on meditation practice.
‘Enhancing Mindfulness’ was reported as the most widely endorsed motivation for microdosing (Rootman et al., 2021) in the largest microdosing study to date, Microdose.me, which was conducted by Quantified Citizen in collaboration with University of British Columbia and Maastricht University.
The study was launched in 2019 and is still running with over 20,000 participants to date.
Director of the Beckley Foundation, Amanda Feilding, commented: “In my opinion, psychedelics can be used as tools to get into a higher state of awareness, which, rather like a farmer preparing the ground for seeding, can help achieve a more fertile ground for either meditation or creative thinking.
“No research has been conducted so far on the effect of microdosing on meditation practice, and I am very curious to find out if regular meditators do experience measurable benefits from microdosing.”
The results of the Microdosing and Meditation Study will help guide future research and improve understanding of the effects of microdosing, and may also lead to better safety and insight into potential benefits and risk factors.
People can take part in the study whether they use psychedelics or not, which the researcher say
Will help with engaging in a useful self-reflexive process, where people can evaluate the ways in which meditation practice evolves over time, and whether, and in what way, microdosing interacts with meditation.
