I'm not a meditator(nor avid AA'er),but when I'm at a meeting and 'wander off' mentally,thinking about past/current/future life...I'll call it meditating. It's the most free my mind is all day actually. There's nothing in the room but the want and hopes of sobriety/peace for everyone there. Check it out sometime.

Not if people are going to be knitting, texting, meditating, etc. while people share their stories. Sounds more like an obligation, like listening to a sermon in church that you're not really interested in hearing. What's the typical size of a meeting?

Depends on the meeting. I've been to 40+people meetings and a few with only 4-6 people. Honestly I don't care if anyone listens to me talk at a meeting. It's the getting it off my chest and mind that have me going back when I need to. I do get a lot of newcomers talking to me after the meetings and find a bit of solace in knowing what I said was heard/felt though...

It doesn't surprise me that this thread is already 3 pages long. AA is such an important and fundamental part of some peoples recovery and ongoing life that strongly held beliefs are bound to be had about what is right, wrong, good form, appropriate etc. whilst attending meetings and being a 'member'.

Personally I have had too much drama in my life to deal with this kind of thing/protocol and it is why I choose SR as my only support mechanism. If someone irritates, disagrees, or offends me then I can just use the ignore function or switch thread. If that works in the long run as a support mechanism on its own then I am not sure.

PS - I'm not knocking AA at all. It has clearly saved hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of lives.

good!
im curious,though.
since meetings are for newcomers to get help and members that have been through the steps to carry the message to the next sick and suffering alcoholic, how is knitting at a meeting helping the next sick and suffering alcoholic? just my opinion, but it seems a wee bit selfish and self centered to be knitting at a meeting.

im also curious if any members that posted here have been to a therapist, howd they feel if that therapist sat there knitting while pouring your heart out lookin for solutions.

I guess maybe it would depend on the knitter. (I know nothing about knitting). But can an experienced knitter do their thing and still pay full attention to whats going on in the room while letting their hands do the knitting? Im sure a rookie knitter would constantly have to be paying attention to the knitting and looking down and all.

I havent gone to my first meeting yet, but I plan to. And if theres a rookie knitter sitting there fidgeting with the knitting stuff as im spilling my guts and sharing my story, I will be less than happy with said knitter. And if I go in and I see a bunch of other people doing other activities whether it be knitting or whatever while people are talking and sharing, I will get up in front of everyone and say, "happy knitting everyone" and im outta there. :)

Just a little humor but thats how I would feel if it were me.

"dorky"?

Kidding aside I am full of respect for AA and everyone in the rooms of AA .
I know many a soul who's life has been saved in those rooms . A lot of commitment , dedication and love goes on inside those rooms .
I suppose knitting is a cosy thing to do and you can still listen .
The only thing I would term as downright rude would be playing with a phone .

Not by me.

There are a couple of ladies who knit at one of the early morning meetings I sometimes go to. They seem very calm and I imagine that the repetitive task lends itself to quiet brains so that they are actually concentrating on the meeting better than I often am!

Respectfully disagree. For one, the comparison to knitting at an AA meeting and watching your therapist do it isn't fair because the therapist more than likely gets paid to listen to you. It's their job.
Secondly, there are tons of people who go to meetings and share very little, if at all. Does that mean they aren't carrying the message to the next sick and suffering alcoholic? I don't judge my neighbor in AA. I see nothing wrong with knitting during a meeting. It's quiet, unobtrusive, and one can still listen and participate if they desire. Doesn't fit my definition of selfish or self centered. But that's just me.

I see a few different women knit at the meetings I attend and it doesn't bother me or appear to bother anyone else. the one is a regular and is always knitting and everyone knows her so I think it's just become part of the program. what use to bother me some was the oldtimer that brings his newspaper and magazines to the meetings and reads thru most it. hardly ever looks up or says anything and sometimes get up in the middle of the meeting and leaves. but then again since he has about a hundred years sober I think he may have found the solution so I may start taking my sports afield and wall street journal to see if it works for me.

What if you're hanging out with your best friend and she asks what's bothering you, and you decide to spill your guts out - the hardest thing you've ever done before, and she grabs her needles and yarn and sits their knitting as you open your soul up to her?

AA isn't filled with your best friends, sure, but it's supposedly a community outreach program filled with kindred spirits. I doubt any first-timer to the program was knitting - probably was too scared/fragile to do anything but listen. Why would long-timers not show the same consideration for newcomers?

As for me, whenever I talk to someone who's on their phone or knitting, it's distracting for me to talk to them. I can't focus on what I'm saying with their hands distracting me. I certainly would jam from an AA meeting if the majority were on their phones or knitting, going through the motions (as it would seem) as I spoke.

I'll likely never see the inside of an AA meeting, so it's all moot for me. Are these meetings like 3 hours long or 60 minutes?

This is slightly off topic but as a 13 year old in 1974 my dad got free tickets to something called the FA (Football Association) Vase Final - the sort Superbowl for non professional football (soccer) teams. My mum knitted throughout the entire 90 minutes only pausing to enquire about the score. It was pretty embarrassing.

I don't think knitting is rude at all!

I'm a former teacher and everyone has different learning styles. Some of us truly do listen and learn better when using our hands and/or being active. Some learn better by speaking, some by writing, etc etc there are lots of learning styles.

I didn't find it rude when people knitted, drew, doodled, took notes, and even occasionally turned and said something to a neighbor while I taught classes. I did ask everyone to not use their phone unless it's a very important call and they could leave the room. I asked this because phones themselves can be so distracting to everyone.

If I COULD knit, I WOULD knit.
I’d knit in the morning, I’d knit in the evening, all over this land! I’d knit out love between my brothers and my sisters...a-a-all over this land! :chior:

I knit and our AA meetings here are 90 minutes long as a standard. I'd be climbing the walls or leaving early if I didn't knit. I couldn't sit through a meeting and not do something with my hands. If I was told I couldn't come to a meeting if I knitted during the the meeting, I probably wouldn't go. I know a lady who brings her quilting squares, another person who brings a sketch pad and a few other people have crafty things from time to tme. No one cares. I don't need to look at my knitting to do it. I can do it entirely by feel. I knit on the bus to work, I knit when I watch tv etc. Maybe I am a knitting addict and need to go to Craft Anonymous. My name is patch11 and I am a yarn addict. I have too much yarn. I spend all my money on yarn. I hoard yarn and forget I have it and go out and buy more yarn. Help me.

But I agree with the person who suggested asking the meeting if it was ok to knit if you're really not sure. Standards may vary from place to place. I know meetings where people apologise for arriving after the start time at the beginning of their share. That surprised me because who cares? Apparently that meeting frowns on late comers. Only one I have ever encountered that does.

Makes me smile too... :) .... reminds me of when I lived with my Grandma. She was so good at knitting....she could do it without even thinking about it or even looking. She'd be able to listen to every word I said and hold a conversation with me while knitting.... So..if you're really good at it.... it wouldnt even get in the way of you paying attention to someone sharing at a meeting.