If someone asked me to describe self-heal as a plant, honestly the first thing that comes to mind is “a jaunty little plant”. And I mean, it kind of is, right? In typical mint family fashion, Prunella has an upright square stem and opposite leaves. She’s quite stiff looking in that regard- there’s nothing frilly or lacy about her leaves. Simply, utilitarian, to the point leaves. Smooth and slightly oval. Leaves. The flowers though, are pretty special. Self-heal, or heal-all as this plant is also called, first sends up a tubular flower head. The distinctive individual flowers blossom from this collective head, and sometimes do so in a way that looks like a violet crown circling the flowers’ head.
Self-heal is a perennial returning each springtime, and now coming up to the end of April, the flowers are on the verge of opening. Given the right location, self- heal grows as a “weed” over much of North America. Self-heal is generally thought to be a European import that naturalized but there is some debate on that. From what I understand to be most current understanding, Prunella vulgaris subspecies lanceolata, or lance-leaf self-heal is a native plant, but Prunella vulgaris subspecies vulgaris is non-native and introduced. What is the distinction then? That European self-heal is a weed, but that lance-leaf self-heal is a wildflower? Maybe that is part of the conversation that self-heal wants to have- a specific healing pattern around the ways that we box ourselves into categories and slap labels with arbitrary distinctions about what is good and what is bad. Semantics for their own sake instead of a deepening and expansion of understanding instead of a collection of facts. What if we could learn to just be- both for ourselves as well as letting things outside of ourselves simply be what they are.
It’s something to think about- and the energy of self-heal to me is very cerebral. It’s the third eye chakra- clarity of vision beyond the most obvious level. What illusions about who I am do I hold to be evident? Perhaps self-heal allows for discernment here.
As a medicinal herb, outside of the realm of my own personal feelings or intuitions about the matter, self-heal offers this same clarification. Self-heal is an astringent, like most green plants to be fair, and can help tonify and clarify boggy tissues. Traditionally used for coughs, colds, sore throats- these are all conditions where a tonifying, drying action can be needed. Energetically, self-heal is cooling which makes sense for hot conditions like fevers and infections.
Self-heal is a vulnerary herb- literally referring to the healing of tissue- and is an excellent remedy for cuts/scrapes/burns/bruises any instance where wound care is needed.
Self-heal is exceptionally rich in bioflavonoids and antioxidants, including rosmarinic acid. These antioxidants scavenge the free radicals, the particles, metabolites- the waste particles from our cells that are part and parcel of the life process- the metabolic process- that they perform. In this way, I think of self-heal as being powerfully protective of our beings at the most cellular level. It is this process of free radical damage, which is part and parcel of being alive- of breathing, digesting, performing cellular functions, being exposed to the sun, to stress- the list could go on. This free radical damage is, essentially, the aging process. Not to say that the aging process in negative at all, and also not to oversimplify it to say that the only reason we as humans age is due to free radical damage. That’s not true, but what if incorporating incredibly simple routines in our life- harvesting plants, drying them, making tea from them and drinking them- could allow us to focus our precious life energy on something other than attempting to repair that damage, over and over again?
Prunella is chemoprotective, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergenic, antibiotic, digestive, vulnerary, restorative. In terms of the immune system, self-heal has been shown to be powerfully antiviral and active against a wide range of microbes. This is one of the ways in which it is known as “heal-all”. It’s just such a powerful generalist in terms of healing action. This plant is so much more than just its ability to “kill bugs”. Although it’s not wrong, it isn’t a truly holistic way of looking at plants as healers. Going back to the aspect of protection- I feel like this energy cannot be overstated. I see self-heal as a plant to turn to when one feels like they have come to a crossroads or a brick wall in their own healing journey. When you aren’t getting answers and don’t know where to turn next. When you know you’d like to summon your inner healer but feel like you don’t know how.
I enjoy harvesting the flowering tips when they have just come into bloom. This will spur a new flush of flower heads, and I like to dry them and store them for use throughout the year. Self-heal is a gentle plant, and I usually rotate it in and out of my herbal infusions along with nettle, oat tops, red clover, dandelion among others. It’s a good one to have on hand as a tincture for any time when you feel like your health is challenged and feeling run down. A tincture can be easily added to hot water to make a hot tea facsimile, or it can be used as a mouth rinse or in wound care. To that end, a tea can be made and the resulting liquid used as a compress or wound wash/soak.
I have gone through the last of the self-heal tincture I made way back in the herb biz days. I’m happy to get to make another batch this year!
If you’ve followed my work, you know that I love making herbal infused vinegars that I use as a kitchen staple. Self-heal works so well in this way, and pairs beautifully with any of the fresh seasonal berries available at the same time of harvest. It’s also technically a wild edible, so if you wanted to cook them up as a potherb you totally could. There’s also nothing stopping you from chopping them up finely as a salad ingredient.
However you ultimately choose to use self-heal, I encourage you to make something this spring. Even if you simply set the intention to find a patch of it somewhere- then get outside and look for it. It’s abundant enough where it is found to be thoughtfully harvested, distinctive enough to be easily identifiable.
Leave a comment about your plans with self-heal this season, whether you want to meet for the first time or have a recipe in mind to try out!
Antioxidants galore!
