Why is it important for OA groups to follow the Traditions?

Traditions are the glue that holds us together. They address issues that allow OA to exist and work.

“Developed through long and sometimes painful experience, the Twelve Traditions embody the same principles for living as do the Twelve Steps” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, p. 108). The Traditions are the principles of group recovery.