I'm having trouble at this stakes, and I know it has to do with my mindset. They say, don't bluff at the micros, but this seems black and white, especially for playing heads up, where I have to be more aggressive and adjust to opponents. It's pretty clear that at any given point, both players won't have much of anything.

So firing away should work, assumingly. When playing on the button, you are almost entitled to pots. Right? Bet, bet, bet. Get folds. And if they do call you down, you know with what, and you widen your value range. This is how I want to play. A LAG style. Strong poker. Scare card on the turn? Bet it. It just seems like a very effective style without much downside. So what if they call too much, assume they won't call in tough spots until they actually do, and THEN adjust.

Is this a good default way to start the match? I don't want to wait for a hand and play timid. It doesn't feel right. I don't win enough pots. Something tells me that not bluffing only applies once you've actually gained the information not to bluff, and not as a default prerequisite.

Any input greatly appreciated. I get exploited too much giving up pots.
c/f on 3 bet pots, not barreling turns against a flop calling station, folding on river leads, open folding buttons too much, not attempting c/r bluffs, ETC.
I don't trust playing this way, and I don't know if it's making me money or not.

not an expert by any stretch but my thoughts:

HU is much more difficult than fr or 6max because pre-flop ranges are nowhere near as polarized. Very few things you can really pick up other than obvious sizings for top 10% or always playing limp traps certain hands.. this kinda stuff I imagine people at 2nl would do and when I've played a bit have seen.
So because of that your range reading has to be much better than in the other cash formats to gain an edge.
The other main thing is adjusting to your opponent, and keeping alert as to when they adjust to you. Theoretically you will both win about 48% of all hands each both playing the same way, so it's about exploiting their lack of adjustments to increase the frequency you win or the amount you win and decrease your losses.
And just leave table if you can't figure them out, 2nl hu to me was just watching money leave the table for a few hours, hopefully you can figure it out, gl.

You need to post some stats by position. What is your pfr from the sb? What's your bb vpip and 3bet? What are your flop cbet, c/c, and c/r?

It will be extremely hard to give advice without knowing what you're doing now. Also, hu isn't just about constant aggression. In general, it's about smart aggression.

Low stakes are about thin valuebetting, if they call too much you dont barrel naked bluffs. You wait for an above average hand for the given board texture and then start to bet. And when they start playing back with aggression you fold everything except really strong hands.

So just get used to playing make a hand poker.

They actually run HU that low nowadays?

Your view on the game is really general and such a fixed outlook can hurt your learning.

As Dunce said, start posting specific hands and build your game one brick at a time. Otherwise your mental swings and confidence levels will operate like a roller coaster.

if they do the rake will be murder

acr offers 2nl HU. the rake is brutal, and must be 25bb/100 or higher, from couple times I've played it. Super common for both to break even to each other after 20-30 minutes, and just both be down because of rake.

if you want some general pointers (which aren't exactly useful, as said above), correct hu play involves A LOT more checking and folding than most non-hu experts imagine. The most common mistake players new to hu make is cbetting flop waaaaay too much, your cbet hu should be significantly lower than in 6max (and most people cbet way too much in 6max to begin with).

When the flop hits, I ask myself if a low equity bluff is going to be more profitable than checking. If yes, I build my bluff range with low equity bluffs. If no, I build my bluff range with high equity bluffs.

On the river you'll be surprised at what can win a showdown. I rarely bluff with queen high or better. I've won check down battles with seven high. I've called river bets with ten high and won. So no it's not always about bet bet bet.

The turn is the trickiest street I think. Usually I want some decent equity to back up my bluff. If there aren't any good draws available then I'll bluff with the strongest pair outs available.