Martha Tressler

Martha has spent much of her life helping others deal with losses in their lives. After losing her husband in 1982, she struggled with the difficulties and challenges of raising three children. After going to a retreat called "The Beginning Experience" which was designed to give people support who were going through divorce or the loss of a loved one, she decided to train to become a facilitator to help others deal with their personal loses. 

Eventually, a Catholic priest offered her a job and for the next 13 years she worked at the Family Life Office of the Archdiocese. This office worked with people going through major changes in their families, often due to losses due to divorce or death of a loved one. She worked for another 8 years with Catholic Cemeteries doing bereavement ministry where she helped train people in Catholic parishes to be better listeners so they could serve in various roles at funerals and other community events. 

While Martha has always found this work rewarding she says it can also be very stressful. She had made many attempts to meditate before she came to the Zen Life & Meditation Center, but without much success. "I took the Primer classes", she said, "and got more than I bargained for." The mindfulness meditation and the practice of living a Zen-inspired life have been extremely helpful to her. She doesn't get as stressed as she used to. She discovered that much of her stress resulted from being too attached to a particular outcome. Meditation helped her be more detached and to take things less personally.  

Martha says "Zen Life & Meditation Center has so much to offer and the facility is so beautiful and peaceful. I've tried other meditations before, but now that I've taken the classes at ZLMC I'm getting better success and I enjoy being a member of the community."

We enjoy having Martha as a member too. Martha's two sons and one daughter are all grown up now. Her oldest son is an accountant in Chicago. Her youngest son also lives in Chicago and is a metal fabricator and her daughter is soon to be married and will moving out of Chicago for a warmer climate in a southern state.