On Promises Austin’s seven-acre estate in the Texas Hill Country sits a Medicine Wheel, a Native-American symbol of health and the cycles of life that may aid clients in their journey to find their own spiritual truth. The Medicine Wheel is a recurring theme throughout treatment at Promises Austin.

What Is the Medicine Wheel?

The Medicine Wheel can assume a variety of forms. It can be artwork (e.g., an artifact or painting), or it can be a structure built on the land (such as the Medicine Wheel on our property) that can be a place of meditation and prayer. Thousands of Medicine Wheels have been built in North America over the last several centuries.

The following are some of the Medicine Wheel’s meanings:

• It can be used as a guide to help us find our way and ground us when we set out on inner journeys. In this way, the Medicine Wheel can help us understand our lives and ourselves. It is a circle that represents harmony between natural and personal powers, and that highlights the interconnectedness of everything.
• It is the circle of personal awareness that gives a person power over their life.
• It can help us find our purpose and direction in life, and align mind, body and spirit.

How the Medicine Wheel Assists in Recovery

In recovery we replace repetitive, self-destructive behavior with positive rituals or ceremonies. In 12-step groups, educational settings, family customs and spiritual communities, rituals and ceremonies are practiced as a way of acknowledging transitions. At Promises Austin, the Medicine Wheel may be used by individuals or groups to assist in centering, growing and healing.