Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb

How many of us would judge our lives as slower or less stressful now than it was ten years ago?  How many of us hear the voice of an inner judge who bludgeons us with criticism?  How do we shut off our own negative mind and reduce anxiety, pain, stress, fatigue, and self-deprecation?  “For me,” says Linda Slabon, “I awkwardly and imperfectly learned to meditate when I was careening out of balance in my life.”  Slabon, a DeKalb area clinical social worker and minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, tells the story of how she began to learn meditation.

I was a student in graduate school studying to be a minister and I was facing exams, had state-wide responsibilities in youth programming for my church, and I was not long divorced from a marriage where I had experienced violence.  I was hard on myself, over-extended, and in the middle of all that my mother attempted suicide.  My friends and classmates suggested I get counseling to help me cope.  After listening to me tumble through all I was going through, my new therapist said, ‘You must begin 10 minutes of meditation each day.’  ‘Ten minutes!  I don’t have ten minutes in a day.’ I insisted.’  ‘No, Linda,’ she said quietly, ‘you don’t understand.  You must find ten minutes and learn to meditate each day or else find another therapist.’  I learned and have been grateful ever since.    

Slabon has continued learning and attended a training by psychologist Dr. Michael Yapko.  He stated that the United States consumes 70% of the world’s Prozac, a drug prescribed for depression.  Based on his scientific research, Dr. Yapko argued that negative thinking, stress, and family environment contribute significantly more to depression and anxiety than does a person’s genetic make-up.  While medications can help, he strongly recommends that we learn to re-attribute our thinking and to exercise.  Both of these activities alter our brain chemistry.   

Our culture and our inner voice put increasing pressure on us to produce and consume.  “I’ve had far too many clients who don’t know what to do with themselves except watch TV or go shopping,” says Slabon.  People feel unworthy and anxious and aren’t sure how to handle loss, sickness, or tragedy. Slabon concludes, “Meditation and yoga practice have taught me to relax so that I gain perspective and awareness.  I have learned openness, flexibility and strength - both physical and mental, and I experience a sense of grace that is both physical and spiritual. Neither are hard to learn but I practice better in a community than if I try to do it alone.  We all know that group practice lends the support that fights inertia and distraction.  I hope people will take the opportunity to learn.  It will enhance your life.” 

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is one place where one can learn meditation or yoga but there are several places in DeKalb and Sycamore where classes are offered.  Slabon currently offers a restful sitting meditation class and has taught walking meditation, chants, and mantras.  She, herself is currently taking Yoga classes taught by Dr. Deb Askelson, a certified Yoga instructor with thirteen years of experience and a background in exercise physiology. 

 

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb
158 N. Fourth Street
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-756-7089
uufdchurchoffice@aol.com

 

Child care services available.

Our church is handicapped accessible.

For directions to our church, please click [map]

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