You may have heard of microdosing of plant medicine, a grassroot movement, driven by communities rather than corporations, where people take sub-perceptual amounts of a psychedelic plant or plant substance (for example psylocibin or LSD) without experiencing hallucinogenic effects. People who microdose report benefits such as improved mood, energy levels, cognition, creativity, and reduced depression and anxiety. Scientific research on microdosing is emerging, with some studies showing improvements in mood and mental health.

I microdosed psylocibin for a couple of years to support my mental health during a time of struggle. It had very positive effects very quickly, when antidepressants had failed me. It allowed me to become aware of negative thought patterns I was not previously aware of, and modify them. I wrote about this in my article Dancing with chaos: my review of 2022.

About a year ago, deep into the process of writing my book about women and drumming (the book will be published this year by Womancraft publishing), I started a practise of beginning my working day with 5 minutes of drumming. I simply put a timer on my phone for 5 min and drummed.

What really struck me was that, within a couple of weeks, I noticed the exact same phenomenon of awareness and reframing of negative thought patterns I had noticed within 2 weeks of starting to microdose plant medicine. It was as if I suddenly heard a negative, judgmental voice in my head, but this time there was an immediate reframing of the negative thought, which had not happened before. 

One morning, whilst sitting down having breakfast, I started feeling grumpy because my husband had not expressed gratitude about the many things I had organised for him on his birthday the day before. In the past I would have verbalised this disappointment to him, and, as you can imagine, it would not have been received well. Nobody responds to criticism by being grateful. This time, as soon as the thought of unappreciation appeared, I heard a voice in my head saying “what’s really happening here is that you aren’t appreciating yourself”. The truth of this resonated so deeply that I sat there for quite some time digesting it. As I did this, I noticed that the tension and unpleasant feelings created by the negative thoughts had evaporated, as if by magic. Then, my husband appeared in the kitchen, and told me how much he appreciated all the things I had organised for him the day before.

I wrote about this in my article Beating the ‘shroom : Drumming as a safer alternative to psychedelics. Here I’d like to go further and explain how transformative it can be.

In the process of preparing for a talk about drumming and women’s wellbeing I gave at the  convention of women drummers and makers in Colchester, UK, I came up with the term drum microdosing, to describe this practice I had discovered.

How drum microdosing works

When you drum (or listen to drumming-but I find drumming myself more powerful), your brainwaves entrain to the sound waves created by the drum. It is a phenomenon known as auditory entrainment. Put simply, when you listen to the drum, the speed of your brainwaves align with the speed of the drumming. The type of drumming I use, known as shamanic drumming, at around 3 to 4 beats per seconds, results in brain waves slowing down. That slowing down is associated with meditative states. With the sound of the drum, I can enter this deeply aware yet relaxed state very quickly and effortlessly, contrary to when I try to sit still and meditate. Students of mine have reported the same effect, including people who, like me, find meditation difficult, and people who are skilled meditators, who report going much deeper into their meditative state when accompanied by the drum.

For me, what clearly happens is that not only does it calm my brain and nervous system down from a stressed to a calm state, but it then also leads to an immediate loosening of my thought patterns, which results in creativity and solution finding. You know when you are looking for a word and cannot find it, and the more you scramble and try to find it, the more it eludes you, only to find that it often appears once you stop trying? That’s what the drum does for me. I liken it to having a massage, but inside my brain instead of my body.

There is plenty of scientific evidence demonstrating this, so much in fact that the chapter on the science of drumming I wrote for my book was so big that the publisher asked me to subdivide it into two separate chapters!

If you want to see a cool example of this, watch this video which shows the effect of shamanic drumming on brainwaves, by drummer and researcher Jeff Strong, who has been studying the effects of drumming on the brain and wellbeing since the 1990s.

How to get started with drum microdosing

There are two ways you could do it: either drum live if you have a drum (or get a drum), or listen to drumming tracks designed to change consciousness. I find the live drumming more powerful, I suspect it is something to do with the more active aspect of it, and the involvement of movement, rather than the passive listening.

If you already have a drum, set an intention to drum for just 5 min each day. Set a timer on your phone for that time and drum.

If you do not have a drum, the drums I use are frame drums (drums that are made of a wooden hoops with a natural or synthetic hide stretched over it, and played either with a beater or by hand). It works with any drums, but these are easiest to use technically.

A really affordable frame drum option is the Remo Fiberskyn or Rennaissance frame drum. Anything from 12 to 16 inches diameter. They cost about £30 to £40. They do not come with a beater, but you can play by hand or make a beater by wrapping a couple of socks around a stick and securing them with string or an elastic band. Or you could look on Ebay or Facebook Marketplace for a second hand Irish Bodhran, some are available for about the same price. If you’d like to explore drum options more widely, I have written an article called How to choose and buy a shamanic drum.

If you’d like to try the drumming tracks: there are plenty of shamanic drumming tracks on YouTube or Spotify, and the best resource by far is Jeff Strong’s Brain Stim Audio website, which has a wide range of tracks to change your brain state at will (free for 2 weeks without entering payment details, and around £9 a month if you decide to carry on using it after that).

Regardless of how you do it, you’ll get a more powerful effect if you commit to doing this practice mindfully, with clear intention setting and conscious integration, very much like it is done with microdosing substances.

How to drum mindfully:

• Set an overarching intention for a cycle of about 4 for 6 weeks. What do you want to improve/feel better about? Perhaps emotional balance, creativity, clarity, or focus. Be specific. 
• Choose a dedicated time each day for your drumming practice, for example the start or the end of the day. 
• Before each session, take a moment to ground yourself, set an intention for this specific session, one that naturally flows from your overarching intention. Create sacred space in whatever way feels authentic to you (it could be as simple as lighting a candle, a stick of incense, or diffusing some essential oils). 
• Keep a simple journal to track your experiences: note how you feel before and after drumming, any insights that arise, shifts in your energy or mood, and patterns you observe over time.  Like any medicine, drumming works best when approached with respect, consistency, and awareness. 
• After each session, take a few minutes to integrate – sit quietly for a few minutes, or journal about your experience. This mindful container will allow the healing benefits of drumming to work more deeply in your system.

Conclusion

Drum microdosing offers an easy, powerful, accessible, and natural path towards better mental health, emotional balance, wellbeing, and personal transformation. Unlike plant microdosing, it’s legal, easily accessible, affordable, and has no physical side effects. 

With a small consistent, mindful practice, the drum is a wonderful tool for consciousness, expansion and personal growth. Whether you’re seeking alternatives to Western mental health approaches, plant medicine, getting unstuck, wanting to explore new ways of working with your mind, drum microdosing provides a simple path forward. 

If you would like to explore this with me:

One-to-One Drum-Assisted Mentoring : personalised guidance combining drumming with transformational mentoring. These sessions offer a sacred space for deep insight and personal breakthrough, tailored to your unique journey.

Group Drum Microdosing Circle (Coming Soon): Join an intimate circle of women exploring this transformative practice together. Meeting weekly on Zoom over 4-6 weeks, we’ll develop our practice, share experiences, and support each other’s growth. The course will provide structure, accountability, and a sacred container for your journey into drum medicine. Please comment below or message me if you’d like to be the first to hear when it goes live.