Be the Medicine
About Us​
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We are neither a training organisation, nor a retreat provider in the conventional sense.
We are practitioners, ritualists, artists, therapists, and guides who believe that psychedelic healing must be rooted in soul, in ceremony, and in collective remembering.
In a time where psychedelics are being rapidly medicalised and commercialised, Be the Medicine was created to hold a different kind of space — one that centres prayer, reverence, and relational depth. A space where Indigenous wisdom, Earth-based traditions, and spiritual intelligence are honoured as vital components of safe and ethical psychedelic work.
Our offerings — both immersive experiential gatherings and trainings — are designed to support the emergence of a new kind of practitioner: one who walks with humility, who listens deeply, who knows healing is not a solo pursuit, but a collective return.
We are here to platform voices that are often forgotten in the psychedelic mainstream — the elders, keepers, and ceremonialists who have held these ways long before the term “psychedelic renaissance” was born.
We are not here to lead or fix or save.
We are here to tend, to honour, to remember.
To walk together in beauty, in service, and in right relationship with the mystery.
Custodians
Kellie Berns
Jeya Lorenz
Jeya Lorenz is a co-founder of Beckley Retreats, where she helped shape one of the leading legal psychedelic retreat programs in the world. After several years at the forefront of the psychedelic field, Jeya chose to step away from Beckley in search of something deeper — a model of healing not confined by corporate structures or commercial trends, but rooted in community, prayer, and service.With over a decade of experience across the social impact, environmental, and healing sectors, Jeya has facilitated and curated transformational programs globally — from plant medicine to Ayurveda, from integration therapy to systems change. Her journey has connected her with a vast network of elders, healers, and visionary practitioners committed to soul-based healing.Be the Medicine emerged as her response — a space to remember and reclaim sacred ways of working, beyond the individualistic lens of the psychedelic mainstream. It is a container woven with feminine principles, Indigenous respect, and Earth-based wisdom, offering both immersive gatherings and trainings for those ready to walk with reverence, integrity, and relational depth.
Kellie Berns is a student, mentor, spiritual practitioner, and community organizer devoted to cultivating spaces of peace, justice, healing, empowerment, and beauty. Her work is rooted in over 25 years of Buddhist and Yogic practice, and is deeply nourished by Indigenous teachings from both the North and the Global South.
For the past 15 years, Kellie has had the humble honor of learning from Indigenous relatives of Turtle Island. Earlier in her journey, she spent several years traveling to Peru and Brazil to sit with elders, medicine people, and wisdom keepers whose guidance continues to shape her life and work.
Kellie serves as the Program Director for Earth Guardians, a global nonprofit supporting youth leaders at the forefront of climate and environmental justice. She is also the Co-Visionary behind Earth Guardians’ Indigenous Youth Leadership Initiative, which uplifts Indigenous knowledge, sovereignty, and self-determination through intergenerational training and mentorship.
Previously, Kellie co-founded the Ahimsa House in West Philadelphia, a community center rooted in Buddhist principles, and led yoga teacher trainings alongside a private healing arts practice. A graduate of Smith College and former faculty at the Pacific Center for Awareness and Bodywork, she now stewards land and gardens of her own with deep care and reciprocity.
With over two decades of experience in community organizing, healing arts, and regenerative living, Kellie is committed to building a world in balance—where nature, culture, and spirit can thrive in harmony.
