From Agoraphobia to Zen

Book excerpt: Description"From Agoraphobia to Zen," is the author's true story of her lifelong struggle with panic attacks, agoraphobia and food addiction. On the dawn of the millennium she makes a decision to break the cycle of mental illness that destroyed her mother and threatens her own life. This authentic, sometimes, brutal journey takes the reader from trauma to comedy, from a Brooklyn housing project to the Hawaiian Islands and from fear to hope. Armed with her mother's journal and a deep desire to be healed, she uses spiritual guides, imagination and hypnotism to uncover the secrets and lies that both mother and daughter kept. This powerful memoir, filled with fascinating people and compelling photographs is intensified by a genuine sense of time and place, and the author's belief that it's possible to triumph against mental illness. About the AuthorMarilyn Maya Mendoza was born and raised in Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York City. For the last 35 years she has lived in Makaha, the sunny west side of Oahu, Hawaii, where she teaches English as a second language and writes. She has four grown children, a supportive partner Jackson and an adopted Havanese dog named Chic. Her hobbies include dancing, traveling and eating French toast; not necessarily in that order.