AWNA meetings are deliberately structured to be the same shape day after day. The format is not improvised. It was inherited from Alcoholics Anonymous, refined over generations, and is followed faithfully because newcomers — including the version of you that walked in last week or last year — need to know what to expect. Predictability is itself a form of safety.
The basics
- Duration: 60 minutes, starting and ending on the hour.
- Platform: WhatsApp, every day. The meeting link is on the homepage meetings section with a live countdown.
- Cost: Free. There is no fee, no donation expected, no membership tier.
- Attendance: Anonymous. Camera off welcome. Microphone muted welcome. First-name or pseudonym for display.
- Frequency: Every day of the week at 3:00 PM Eastern on WhatsApp.
The hour, minute by minute
00:00 — Welcome
The chair (a rotating member) greets everyone with a brief opening — something like: "Welcome to the [day] AWNA meeting. My name is [first name], and I am a member of this fellowship." The chair then invites any newcomers to introduce themselves by first name, if they wish. Newcomers are not required to speak; many do not, and that is normal.
00:02 — The Preamble
A member reads the Preamble aloud. The Preamble is a short statement of what AWNA is and what the fellowship abstains from. It names the five substances explicitly. It states that the only requirement for membership is the willingness to entertain the idea of life without consuming them. New attendees often hear themselves in the Preamble immediately; it is designed to be recognisable.
00:05 — Our Primary Purpose
A member reads Our Primary Purpose. This reading is what protects the meeting from drifting into other topics. It reminds the room that we are here for recovery from the five substances, not for general life advice, not for behavioural addictions, not for adjacent issues. The narrowness is the point. The newcomer's recognition depends on it.
00:08 — The Twelve Steps
A member reads the Twelve Steps aloud. This usually takes about five minutes. The steps are listed in full each meeting — both for newcomers hearing them for the first time and for returning members for whom the repetition is the point.
00:14 — Moment of silence
The chair invites the room into a brief silence for those still suffering from substance addiction, and for the substance addict who is not yet in the rooms. Typically 30–60 seconds.
00:15 — Chair share or topic
The chair shares for a few minutes about what is working in their recovery, a step they are on, a craving they sat with, or a small gratitude. Sometimes the chair opens a topic for the room — something like "this week I want to talk about what happens when I skip meetings." The chair share is meant to be brief — usually under seven minutes — to leave time for the open sharing portion.
00:22 — Open sharing
The bulk of the meeting. Members raise hands one at a time. The chair calls on each in turn. Each member shares for two to three minutes. There is no crosstalk — members do not interrupt, respond to, or comment on one another's shares. The fellowship calls this rule "no crosstalk" and it is the central piece of safety architecture in 12-step rooms: it lets a member share without being argued with, advised at, or fixed.
Open sharing typically runs for 30 to 35 minutes. Some meetings get through 8–10 shares; some get through fewer with longer ones. Not everyone shares every meeting, and that is fine. Listening is participation.
00:55 — The Closing Prayer
A member reads the Closing Prayer — the Serenity Prayer with reflection on each line. The reading is a slow walk through "accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, wisdom to know the difference," applied specifically to the experience of living with cravings.
00:59 — Close
The chair thanks everyone, mentions the day and time of the next meeting, and closes the meeting on the hour. Some members stay on the line for a few minutes of informal fellowship — saying hello to a sponsor, asking a brief question, welcoming someone new. Most calls end within five minutes after the meeting itself.
What does not happen at an AWNA meeting
It can be as useful to know what doesn't happen:
- No teaching. The chair does not lecture. No one teaches anyone how to recover.
- No advice. Members do not advise each other in shares. Advice happens between members, off the call, with a sponsor.
- No fixing. When a newcomer shares something painful, the room does not respond by trying to solve it. The room listens, holds it, and moves on.
- No crosstalk. Already mentioned, worth repeating. The room is not a discussion forum.
- No commercial content. No outside endorsements, no book recommendations beyond AWNA-adjacent literature, no recommended apps or programs.
- No politics, no current events, no general opinions. The room stays narrow.
- No required participation. No one is called on. No one has to speak. No one has to identify themselves beyond a first name.
If you want to chair a meeting
Chairing is volunteer, rotates among members, and is welcome to anyone who has attended a few meetings and is willing to keep the hour gentle and on time. The full chairing guide is at how to lead a meeting. You do not need to be an expert. You need to be willing to read the readings and hold the time.