This Mushroom Dosage Chart Can Help You Create Your Ideal Experience

So you’ve decided to take the plunge and try mushrooms for the first time—Congratulations! But, are you sure you know how much you want to take? Whether you want to start with a sensible dose and avoid a potential bad trip, or want to flip reality on its head and take your mushroom trip to the next level, we’ve got you covered. This mushroom dosage chart can be a handy tool for planning that first trip. In this article, we’ll explore how mushrooms affects you at different dosages so you can get a better idea of which dosage will be best for you.

Important: This particular chart shows dosages for the psilocybe cubensis strain of magic mushrooms. Cubensis is one of the most common strains of shrooms and it’s about a “middle strength” shroom. There are many varieties of shrooms, from Penis Envy to Amazonians, to Golden Teachers and more. Each strain of magic mushroom has its own level of potency, some are much stronger than others. Therefore, when calculating your dosage, you should take the strain of psilocybin mushrooms you are taking into consideration.

First things first. A note on bad trips.

Let’s be aware that a bad trip is possible, and they can be quite terrifying. They are, however, pretty easy to avoid so long as you do mushrooms in an appropriate context and don’t overdo it.

Before you trip, self-evaluate. If you are going through fresh trauma, or suffering depression or other fairly serious or chronic issues, there’s a good chance that mushrooms will expose your consciousness to the underlying fear associated with these feelings or traumas. This is the classic “bad trip” where you experience a whole bunch of bad feelings and dark thoughts for hours. This can be avoided by deciding not to do shrooms if you’re going through some really hard times mentally or otherwise.

The best way to ensure you’ll have a great trip is by choosing a fun, safe place to trip and choosing awesome people you love to do them with. The context doesn’t hurt either. Nature, a music festival, or indoors watching movies are all great places where you’ll feel completely free to express yourself. With that out of the way, let’s examine our mushroom dosage chart!

Level 1 On the Mushroom Dosage Chart: The Microdose

Let’s start at the bottom of the mushroom dosage chart with the smallest dose. As you’ve probably noticed,  ‘microdosing’ has become quite the buzz word in recent years. Microdosing has started to get very popular, thanks in no small part to scientists, “psychonauts” and young Silicon Valley professionals that have sung microdosing’s praise. For those whose work involves tremendous effort from the creative and analytical parts of their brains, tiny doses of psychedelics can improve focus and creativity, leading to creative breakthroughs and improved productivity. 

As the word itself implies, “microdosing” involves taking a dose that is sub-perceptual. This means you don’t experience any of the ‘trippy’ effects of shrooms, only a mood/focus boost. Typically, a microdose is taken every third day, allowing for the effects to fully wear off in the days between. The protocol is maintained for several weeks or months, as required. Another benefit of scheduling microdoses several days apart is that you won’t build up a tolerance to psilocybin, so your doses continue to be effective.

Many people who microdose regularly report higher focus and energy, more creativity, better relational skills, and decreased stress, anxiety, and depression. It doesn’t solve the root causes of these negative feelings, of course, but it can be used as a tool to give you the strength to build healthy habits and make positive changes. 

#2 The Creative Dose

Psychedelics have obviously had a significant impact on art and music over the decades. From Steve Jobs, who attributes his ‘out-of-the-box thinking’ to LSD and called it one of the best things he ever did, to the iconic Beatles whose later work was much inspired by psychedelics. Even Harry Styles is tripping these days, telling Rolling Stone how his album ‘Fine Line’ is inspired by magic mushrooms. 

This is the dose level that will introduce you to mild visual and mind-expanding effects, particularly as you approach a full gram. At this dose you should have no problem remaining grounded in reality and able to interact with people and execute common tasks. A creative dose would be ideal for a walk in nature, visiting a museum or art gallery, watching a film or engaging in a creative endeavor such as writing music or painting. 

#3 The Moderate Dose

Moving up the mushroom dosage chart, we have the “moderate” or “standard” dose. Generally, this is the dose that people recommend for a traditional mushroom experience—enhanced perception, visual hallucinations, euphoria, peace, and joy. Your hallucinations and altered perceptions won’t be too strong, though. Typically, what you’ll see are objects warping and breathing, more vivid colors, with shapes and colors bleeding into each other a bit and possibly morphing a little as well. For a first time experience, it would be a good idea to start on the lower end of this dosage. Remember, you can always take more, but once you’ve taken a dose, the trip can’t be canceled or dialed down.

4. The Strong Dose

As you gain experience with mushrooms, you may want to up the dose to the level where your ego takes a back seat. This “ego-death” can offer particularly clear insight into the self as you observe your own reactions and behaviors in a detached way.  In this state, your mind becomes unencumbered; a receptacle for altered perceptions, insights, epiphanies and a blooming sense of oneness with the universe.

Though you’ll have left the “self” behind a bit, you’ll still be connected to reality, although let’s say the relationship to reality becomes more elastic. Once you get to 4-5 grams, your connection to reality starts to approach the vanishing point as you zoom off into space or wherever your epiphanies take you.

This dose is definitely not recommended for beginners. For the uninitiated, the sensations and experiences may be intense enough to cause discomfort and anxiety. In other words, this is potential bad trip territory. Don’t try a strong dose until you are confident you can handle it. For anyone well acquainted with shrooms, this dose can offer real out-of-this-world experiences and powerful insights into the self and the universe. 

5. The Heroic Dose!

Here it is! The tippy-top of the mushroom dosage chart! So here’s a fun fact, “The Heroic Dose” was actually coined by famed ethnobotanist and psychonaut, Terrance McKenna. This dose is not for the faint of heart and is recommended only for those with plenty of mushroom experience. You’ll be flying with the stars and merging with the universe in no time!

Be prepared for an epic, hero’s journey here. For real! Many people report experiencing significant turmoil and pain during trips of this dosage, which are then followed by intensely positive revelations.

Time, your sense of who you are, and reality itself might all disappear. People tell stories of experiencing different levels of consciousness, discovering the objectivity to understand other beings’ perspectives, traveling in time, and even becoming entirely different entities. Basically, a whole suite of experiences words cannot adequately describe. If you’re brave enough to journey deep within yourself and face the darkest parts of yourself, as well as the lightest, this is a dose that can potentially change your fundamental perspective on life and your own being. 

We hope our mushroom dosage chart helps!

Hopefully, this chart gives you the info you need to feel confident you can choose a good starting dose for yourself. The next thing you’ll want to think about are the all-important factors of who, where and why. If you want to minimize the chance of a “bad trip,” these are very important factors you’ll want to consider. Who you are with, the place you are tripping in, and the context within which the trip takes place will be powerful influences on your trip. Choose people you love, somewhere you feel free to express yourself and feel safe, and a situation where stressful events are not going to be an issue. When surrounded by positivity and love, there’s a far greater chance of feeling good and being able to embrace the weirdness rather than feel threatened by it. Good luck!

Be safe and have fun!