Kelsi Schlemmer

Kelsi Schlemmer is a healer with an intuitive understanding of psychedelic medicines. She was guided to work with psilocybin as an alternative to taking antidepressants, which was a divinely timed turning point on her journey of healing from depression and addiction. Kelsi began growing her own mushrooms while staying committed to a microdosing practice that supported her to be more motivated and disciplined in her day to day life, and just happier in general. 

Her work with mushrooms ultimately led her to an Ayahuasca ceremony that helped her find a new path of purpose and self love. “I’m grateful for a lot of things, but I am most grateful for that. It was almost like I was reborn in a way.” Facilitating mushroom ceremonies is Kelsi’s way of giving back to the medicines that saved her life and it is her mission to plant seeds of hope and healing with everyone that crosses her path. 

If you are considering attending a Psilocybin ceremony, breathwork session, or working with other plant medicines at Tikkun and are curious about Kelsi’s perspective on this work, keep reading for more information in our Q&A. 

What advice would you give someone who is interested in working with plant medicine for the first time? 

If an opportunity to work with plant medicine presents itself to you, grab it! If you’ve ever been curious about it, it’s worth trying. Talk about it out loud, don’t hold the curiosity in. Talk about it with someone that feels safe to discuss it with. I think holding it in is what can create feelings of overwhelm about trying plant medicine. The right facilitator is so important. A good facilitator won’t try to tell you what you’re experiencing or project their life onto you, they’ll hold a safe space for you to figure it out for yourself. 

What are some of your strengths as a plant medicine facilitator? 

I offer a grounding, loving presence, and a nurturing energy. There’s a lot of love that goes into the mushrooms that I grow. I didn’t know how much love could go into a plant –  a fungus! But I talk to them like I would talk to a child. I’m always excited for people to experience the mushrooms I grow and share feedback. It’s so meaningful. 

What can people expect when they come to one of your Made of Magic mushroom ceremonies? 

An introduction to themselves, because I think mushrooms facilitate an introduction to yourself. At least with my ceremonies, my intention is for people to feel love. Love for themselves, love for nature, love for breathing. Love for everything that we forget that we love. 

I call my ceremonies Made of Magic because I believe that magic is innate in every single person, but we’ve just become disconnected from ourselves. What we view as “magic” with these plant medicines is just a way back to our true selves, it’s not really magic – it’s nature. I hope people walk away from my ceremonies with a lightness to them. A lightness of being, almost like they can breathe again. I talk about the breath so much because it’s something important that I’ve learned, the breath is our connection to everything. 

I hope people feel lighter, and feel a sense of appreciation for themselves. Not appreciation for me, or for Tikkun, but for themselves, because it takes a lot to step out of your comfort zone. So appreciate yourself for making that choice, and appreciate yourself for having the awareness that you want to feel better, that you want to be closer to who you really are. I think that self appreciation is the first point of awareness in beginning to see how magical you truly are. 

As someone who has experience with both medicines, what would you say are some of the main differences between Psilocybin and Ayahuasca? 

I would describe Psilocybin as an outward experience and Ayahuasca as an inward experience. They are related, but also completely different. I think of mushrooms as an outward experience because they allow you to feel everything outside of you. To feel the air, the grass, and your own skin, and to love all of it. To love the trees, to love yourself for loving yourself. I would describe Ayahuasca as shadow work and inner child work, while with mushrooms you’re remembering how to love yourself in a way that can be more gentle than Ayahuasca. If mushrooms are the introduction to loving yourself, I would say Ayahuasca is about finding yourself. 

Are there any words of wisdom you’d like to share? 

I’ve been on a healing journey for five years and have been working with plant medicine for three of them. I would say I’ve learned that your perception of life becomes your projection. I didn’t know how big the plant medicine community was until I was in it, and becoming part of it has led me to a completely different outlook on life. Knowing that there is a community of people out there that want the best for you and everybody else is life-changing. 

If anyone feels stuck in life, then plant medicine is for them. If anyone is sick of doing the same thing every single day, hanging out at the same bars everyday, whatever it is, consider plant medicine, don’t let the door shut. It could be very beneficial, so just reach out. Reach out to people that have been to ceremonies, reach out to plant medicine centers. 

Why do you love plant medicine? 

I love plants because they have brought me back to myself. I was so lost and I resented everything and everyone for it, especially myself. It’s so wild to feel like I’ve opened a door of awareness and self love and it’s so empowering. To realize how much more there is to life – you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it. I also see how so many things in life are designed to keep people numb, and to keep them from the truth – and that’s hard. But plant medicine wakes you up. Psychedelics, they’re a cure to wake you up. 

Tikkun is the concept of healing and restoring the world to its original pure state. What does Tikkun mean to you? 

Tikkun represents hope to me; a horizon. Whatever darkness you’re in, Tikkun offers that light. Tikkun also represents safety. That feeling of safety to come back to your true self, as well as  growing the space within to trust and love yourself again. It provides a space where all of your energy can return back to you. Before getting into this work, I really struggled to balance my energy. I often would isolate myself because I didn’t have extra energy to give to anyone, I felt like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel whenever it came to showing up for others. So Tikkun is not just being able to fill your own cup but having an overflow so you can heal and help the people around you.