Why Microdosing Is Actually Meditation | Paul Austin
Life, Death & The Space Between with Dr. Amy Robbins
Dr. Amy Robbins
4.8 • 582 Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2026
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Microdosing is everywhere right now, but most people are doing it completely wrong. In this conversation with Paul Austin, founder of Third Wave and author of Mastering Microdosing, we dive deep into why the sub-perceptual model everyone talks about misses the mark, how microdosing differs fundamentally from meditation (and why that matters), and what the latest clinical research actually shows. We explore the overlooked power of intention, the neuroscience of the 5-HT2A receptor, and why Albert Hoffman may have been onto something for those final 30 years of his life. If you're curious about psychedelics but don't know where to start, or if you're already exploring this space, this episode cuts through the noise.
00:00 Microdosing: Most People Are Doing It Wrong
03:51 What Is Microdosing? Macro vs Micro Explained
09:14 Tolerance Windows and Neuroplasticity (BDNF)
11:38 Why Clinical Research on Microdosing Failed
19:03 LSD, Psilocybin, Wachuma: Three Core Medicines
26:15 LSD Semi-Synthetic vs Natural: The Difference
29:28 Why MDMA Microdosing Is Dangerous
37:05 Parts Work, Somatic Therapy, and Relational Healing
45:06 Community Over Pills: A Spiritual Model
46:08 The Real Downsides: Legality and Dependence
47:52 Three Critical Rules for Safe Microdosing
51:43 Finding Clean Sources and Golden Rule
53:19 Connect with Paul: Resources and Training Programs
54:39 Closing and Final Thoughts
LEARN MORE ABOUT Paul Austin
· Founder, Third Wave: thethirdwave.co
· Author, Mastering Microdosing: How to Use Subperceptual Psychedelics to Heal Trauma, Improve Performance, and Transform Your Life
· Psychedelic Coaching Institute: psychedeliccoaching.institute
· Social Media: @paulaustin (LinkedIn, X, Instagram)
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Life, Death & the Space Between Dr. Amy Robbins
Exploring life, death, consciousness and what it all means.
Put your preconceived notions aside as we explore life, death, consciousness and what it all means on Life, Death & the Space Between.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It certainly does seem like microdosing and psychedelics are everywhere right now. |
| 0:05.6 | Silicon Valley, yoga studios, retreats. |
| 0:09.6 | Anywhere you look, people are talking about altering their states of consciousness. |
| 0:14.2 | But according to Paul Austin, most people are doing it wrong. |
| 0:19.5 | Paul Austin is the founder of third wave and mastering microdosing. |
| 0:25.3 | He has spent over a decade at the forefront of the psychedelic Renaissance, training more than 500 |
| 0:31.2 | practitioners founding the psychedelic coaching institute and helping thousands of people use these incredible tools with |
| 0:39.1 | real intention. One of the things in the microdosing space that you often hear about is subperceptual |
| 0:45.5 | dosing. And this is where Paul Austin disagrees with a lot of what's already out there. |
| 0:51.2 | Paul believes that the best microdose is the one that you can actually feel, |
| 0:55.7 | which in many ways runs counter to so much of what we've heard. You feel it just enough that it |
| 1:02.1 | doesn't derail your day. In this episode, Paul walks us through why microdosing is more like a |
| 1:08.5 | meditation and why your intention with microdosing actually matters just like it does |
| 1:14.2 | in a full macro dose. Why the gold standard of research for microdosing has failed, and that's okay. |
| 1:21.1 | And also the one rule Paul has for starting out with microdosing. Albert Hoffman, the founder of LSD, microdosed for the last |
| 1:30.9 | 30 years of his life. So perhaps there's something to it. And if you check the show notes, |
| 1:37.0 | we'll give you a little microdose of something. With that, here's today's episode with Paul Austin. |
| 1:44.5 | We need at our table of awareness, the logician, but equally we need the intuitive, we need the mystic. |
| 1:51.0 | I almost died. |
| 1:52.0 | I was allowed to go to the very precipice of death, of life and death, and look over the edge. |
| 1:58.0 | And I was allowed to behold what was there and allowed to come back. Most people aren't. |
| 2:02.6 | When we talk about being aligned with our self or being aligned with our soul or hearing our higher self, |
... |
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