Sweet Marie, please see my answer to your comment as promised. Sorry it took me a little longer to reply than I anticipated. you wrote: Ines, I wish to express my gratitude for sharing this story with us. I would like to ask you a question which has nothing to do with neither yourself or autism. I have been sexually abused by my father and by my elder brother and I have run away from the house. I am now 20 years old. It was so painful that I cannot forget it yet. When I am in a train with a lot of men around, I vomit. I also have nightmares in the middle of the night and I become really scared. Do you know a good treatment? In the psychiatry department in Japan, they only give you medicine and it costs 10,000 yen or more for the counseling in 50 minutes. This because social security is not accepted for this kind of medical consultation. It was impossible to get out of bed for while and I had really strong suicidal thoughts even if I was taking the medicine from my Doctor. Therefore, I have decided to stop taking the medicine prescribed by the Doctor and instead I have started to jog, do yoga and to add supplements such as vitamins and minerals during my meals. I started marine sports because I like the sea very much. I can tell I slowly forget and even if it is not possible to forget, I am happy. I am glad you can reach us what you know. After reading your post about your son, I felt a lot of courage inside of me. I understood that you can overcome anything if you work hard to overcome it. Since I got to know you through this blog and activities, I have feelings of happiness now instead of painful and despaired thoughts. Also I sincerely pray for your activities. love, marie

My dearest Marie, i have been thinking about what to write to you. Sadly, the studies show that at least one out of five boys and one out of four girls will be abused before they reach the age of 18. I know well because 2 of my best friends were sexually abused by their relative. One by her father until she was 12, and my other friend by her Grandfather until she was 8 years old!

They both grew out of the feeling of rage, low self-esteem and disgust and they have attended multiple sessions with a psychologist (and not a psychiatrist). What you need is to talk about what happened to you, what you felt and what you now feel now. It is very important to get everything out of your chest and to move on. I know it is a hard thing to do but it is possible.

Remember the key thing for you is to value yourself and to think that you are a true survivor and not a victim. The emotions, the despair that you have felt at that time and repeatedly have made you an angel,you are my little angel! Someone with extra power on this earth.

Keep talking supplements and vitamins. B vitamins are really important, also fish oil (omega 3). get extra magnesium and calcium to balance your moods. Sleep and eat well.

Try to watch happy movies always, read love stories. Go out out with fun friends and remember me every time you feel sad, I will feel it and send you warm waves of happiness!

The good news in your story is that I can feel that you are already going up and moving forward with your life and I am so glad. remember marie, you are only 20 years old, also you have lots of years ahead of you. yOur tragedy can be a powerful engine for you to create amazing achievements in your life.

I am proud of you!

Love, smiles and tenderness,

ines

Emiri photographed by Leslie Kee (swimsuit by Maria H.; Shoes by Gucci)

Is staying in shape always something that gets bumped to the bottom of your list? I know many people that complain about not having enough time to exercise. I think they are lying to themselves. The real problem is that they hate exercising, so it will never be a priority.

I used to hate exercising too. Going to the gym, running and most forms of physical activity seemed dull and painful compared to most other ways I could spend my time. But by not giving up and looking for a way I could enjoy working out, I reversed this pattern. Now I exercise 5-6 times per week and I hate not being able to go.

Here’s some tips to make exercise something you actually want to do:

1. Make it a Habit – Remove the thinking element. If you can make exercise a habit, then it becomes that much easier to go. Here’s some tips on making habits stick if you aren’t sure where to start.
2. Get a Partner – Get someone else to go to the gym with you. Pick someone who is committed to their health. Not only can you socialize with someone while you’re there, but you’ll have a backup in case your motivation alone isn’t enough to drag yourself out there.
3. Tune Your Challenge Level – Here are two bad ways to start exercising. Go out and run until your winded and dry-heaving into a ditch. Show up to the gym, walk around, don’t do anything strenuous and go back home. In one case you put the challenge level to high, the other wasn’t challenging at all. Your goal is to set a workout routine that is challenging, but not overwhelming. Challenge is key to enjoyment.
4. Set Goals – Not weight-loss or muscle gain goals, but fitness goals. Set goals to beat your past records in distance ran, push-ups or chin-ups you can do, weight you can lift or degree you can stretch. Fitness goals make the gym a game where you strive to beat your previous high-score.
5. Get Past Your Comfort Zone – So what if you aren’t the most svelte or muscular person in the gym? Self-consciousness can be a big obstacle to enjoying your workout. The key is to get used to it. When you continue to show up, you’ll pay less attention to the people around you and more to your workout.
6. Experiment – Don’t stick with the same routine. Mix it up and try different activities. There are many different exercise routines you can follow or activities to try. If you don’t like lifting weights or running, try sports, martial arts or dancing. Assuming that exercise needs to be pumping iron or jogging may limit you from finding something you would truly enjoy.
7. Music – This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but music can enhance a workout. I find running almost twice as enjoyable with music than without it.
8. Short Workouts – Don’t have time or enthusiasm to last an hour? Just go for twenty or thirty minutes. Shorter workouts can be better than longer ones if the intensity is higher and you become more focused as a result. After an hour or two of exercise your body starts to go into a state where more exercise can actually reduce physical improvements.
9. Daily Challenges – Make your workout into a game. Sticking with the same type of exercises can get boring, so mix it up by introducing an unusual workout challenge. I do a mix of Pilates, Kick boxing, Extreme Abs & Core-Conditioning classes. Also I can work different parts of my body and never get bored or hurt. I work out at the Tokyo American Club almost every mornings for 2 to 3 hours!
10. Reward Showing Up, Not Weight Loss - Some people have gotten the idea that they should reward themselves for losing weight or gaining muscle. I disagree. Instead, I think you should reward showing up to the gym and exercising regularly. There are many ways you can lose or gain weight in unhealthy fashions. Rewarding exercise is rewarding your commitment to health.
11. Make Exercise Your Stress Relief - I know many people that swear by using the gym to relieve stress. Some of them will head to the gym because of a frustrating day even if it isn’t on their schedule. Exercising can be cathartic and release negative feelings if you get used to using it that way. Then instead of avoiding the gym because of a stressful day, it will be your reason to go.
12. Record Improvements – Again I recommend recording fitness over body improvements. Recording weight loss or muscle gain is a good idea, but because of the way your metabolism functions it becomes increasingly harder to make weight changes as you go to the gym more regularly. But fitness improvements can, if you work on it, continue to rise. Keep a record of your strength, endurance and flexibility so you can get pride in your accomplishments.
13. Make Time – You can’t say you don’t have time to exercise. Exercise improves your energy levels and mood which makes you more productive than any time lost. Find your forty minutes somewhere in the day and make it a commitment. Get up a bit earlier and go in the morning. Or schedule it right after work before you settle down for the day. Once you make time and make it a habit, you’ll actually want to exercise instead of just feeling you should.And keep taking pictures of your body to see the improvement each 2 weeks in your swimsuit. It is rewarding….. love, ines

Miss Universe Japan Emiri Miyasaka and Jonte Moaning, NYC famous choreographer,  attend “2010 Miss Universe Japan Kick Off Party” at Omotesando Hills on October 8, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. Auditions are happening every weekend in one of the major cities around Japan. Already 800 candidates have been selected.   Try now, register quickly!!!! nagoya: 10:25 (sun) hokkaido: 10/31 & 11/1 fukuoka: 11/7  (sun) osaka: 11/8 (sun) tokyo: 11/22 (sun) Photos by Jun Sato for wireimages.com

THANK YOU SO MUCH RUMIKO FOR TRANSLATING MY MESSAGE SO THAT OTHERS CAN READ IT. LOVE, INES

最愛の息子、ルカ・ケイ

ルカが初めて「アイラブユー、マミー」と発したことは・・・小さな男の子にとって大きなステップでした。彼は18ヶ月の時に受けたワクチンによる水銀中毒が原因で自閉症になり、その困難を乗り越えたのです。

DTP（ジフテリア、破傷風、ポリオ）の2回目の接種後、インフルエンザワクチンの接種（最悪なものはMMR：はしか、おたふく、風疹）と続いた後、彼はショック状態に陥り、その後以前と同じ状態に戻りませんでした。毎日ひとつのものを近くから見つめたり、その周りをくるくるっ回ったりすることで日々を過ごし、野生動物のように叫んだり、泣いたり、私たちに噛みついたり、殴ってきたりしていました。そのため私たちの身体はあざだらけとなり、彼の兄を24時間守らなければなりませんでした。

ルカは中毒のせいで、行動が激しく、落ち着きがなくなり、とてつもない苦痛の中を過ごしていました。後になり、彼の腸に穴が開いていることがわかり、食べ物も彼の状態を悪化させていきました。また、この中毒は彼のすべての臓器をもむしばみ、最も恐ろしいことにその小さな脳まで侵していきました。

彼は同じパターンで姿勢を固定したまま何時間も窓の外を凝視したり、小さなおもちゃを一直線に並べ、私たちが動かそうものなら発狂しました。彼はもはや私たちの目を見ることはなく、心ここにあらずで、本当に存在していないような状態でした。私たちが彼の名を呼ぼうとも、もはや聞こえることはなく、耳が不自由になったと思ったほどです。しかし、検査はそれを否定していました。彼は何かに取り憑かれたようであり、私たちとは違う世界に住んでいるようでした。それは私たちに胸が張り裂けるような思いや大きな落胆を与えました。私たち家族全員は悲嘆の中にいました。

たくさんの検査の後、日本のお医者さんは彼は今後ずっと特別施設にて生活しなければならない、また私たちにこれ以上できることはないということを伝えました。4歳まで彼は一言も、本当に何も言葉を発することはなく、高い声で音を立てたり叫んだりするだけでした。私はこの診断を信じることはなく、彼が眠りについた後、毎晩ルカに彼が元通りになるようできることはなんでもすると誓っていました。ある夜、私は詩を書きました。それはとても美しい旋律の詩でした・・・が私はルカがいつかそれを読むことができるようになるかどうかは定かではありませんでした。が、彼がそれをできるようになった今、私はそれを信じていなければならなかったのです。

ルカは4歳まで私をママだと認識していませんでした。「ノアのママ」だと認識していたのです（ノアは彼の真ん中の兄で、ベンが一番上の兄です）。彼が4歳の誕生日を過ぎた頃、少しだけ話せるようになった時に私のことをそう呼んだのです。「ノアのママ」・・・どれだけ切なかったことでしょうか。それは私の心を砕く出来事でしたが、いつか彼が私が彼の母であることを理解し、どれだけ彼を愛しているかを感じ、すべてがうまくいって普通の生活を送ることができるようになると信じ続けていました。私は日中は仕事をし、そしてルカにとって最善の治療がないかと必死に探しながらのとてつもなく大変な日々を過ごしました。私たちにできることはすべてし、ヨーロッパ、アメリカ、アジアのお医者さん、その筋の識者、セラピスト、同じような境遇のご両親にも会いに行きました。彼が良くなるまで私はぐっすり眠ることができませんでした。その間、私はファイナリストのトレーニングをし、勝者であるミスユニバースジャパンのトレーニングをし、スポンサーシップ獲得の活動をし、イベントを開催していましたが、どうやってすべてをこなしていたかはわかりません。単純に、仕事をしていなければ私は正気を失い、治療のためにいかなる種類をもの治療を行うためにお金を費やし、破産していたことでしょう。

いつも言っていましたが、私がグーグルユニバーシティにて薬物療法について学んだのは、実はルカのために常に新しいセラピーや治療法をインターネットサーチですべて詳しく調べるためだったのです。克服へのファーストステップは彼もしくは私たちにできることは何もなく、状況を受け入れるしかなく、彼そして私たちはハンディキャップを持つ者、家族として残りの人生を過ごしていかなけらばならないと東京のお医者さんから伝えられた後、自宅へ戻ってきた時でした。私は号泣し、嘔吐さえし、夜にキッチンで意識を失ったのを覚えています。その後苦痛の中目覚め、、私のかわいい息子が奪い去られてしまうという悲嘆のため、涙をたずさえたままキッチンにたたずんでいました。そして私の息子を取り戻すための長い旅がそこから始まったのです。火山が噴火するように、私の中で巨大なものが湧き出すのを感じました。それはさながら、超人ママのような、不正や受難に立ち向かう戦士のようにどんな困難にも打ち勝つことができるという気持ちでした。私はコンピューターに向かい、夜中頃グーグルサーチエンジンにてAUTISM（自閉症）という言葉を検索しました。すると、状態について、可能な治療法、同じ境遇の子を持つご両親の体験談などたくさんのリンク先が出てきました。最も興味深いことに彼らの多くは水銀もしくは重金属中毒により影響を受けた子供たちについて述べられていたのです。これは私に希望を与えました。なぜならば、ルカは他の普通の子供同様に生まれ、”ノーマル”であることを認識することができました。そして彼を治すために何かできることがあるという希望を与えてくれたのです。私のミッションが始まり、1日、1週間、数か月、数年・・・そして5年が経ったのです。

ルカが病気になったのは2003年2月のことでした。ちょうど宮崎京がミスユニバースジャパンのタイトルに輝き、パナマでの世界大会へ向かう頃でした。彼女は私たちの家で多くの時間を共に過ごしていたため、ルカの状態について説明することができるでしょう。現在、2009年ですが、ここにきてすばらしいニュースをお知らせすることができるようになりました。ルカは本当に普通の小さな男の子に戻りました。途方もない記憶力、ユーモアのセンス、社交性、スポーツ能力、リーダーシップ、独立心を持ち合わせています。

なぜ、私が今日このトピックについて書いたかというと、この私の話が他のご両親の皆様にインスピレーションを与えられたならと思ったからです。同じような境遇の小さなお子様を持つ方々、ルカのような小さな天使たちを持つご家族を知っている方々から何かご質問があればお答したいと思っています。このブログのコメント欄にメールアドレスを残してください。必ず個人的にご返信させていただきます。

また、私は日本で自閉症の子供を持つご両親のためのセミナーにてスピーチをする予定です。皆様をご招待できると思います。

ルカが病気を克服するまでの道のりについてすべてをお教えすることができるでしょう。彼は現在完全に普通の生活を送っています。誰もがこの小さな男の子がある日まったく普通の生活を送ることができなくなったことがあるということに気付かないでしょう。

この私の話がほかの家族の方々のお役に立てばと思っています。どんなことでも私にご質問ください。事態が好転すると信じられるよう、皆様のお役に立つために私にできることはすべてさせていただきたいと思っています。

up: NOA BLEU below: LUCA KEI From sunny and peaceful Saipan, today playing with my 2 boys, all day long in the warm Pacific Ocean, swiming with colorful and fearless fishes. Yesterday we went by boat to a remote island to scuba dive, and we were swimming with sharps, of course we had lifeguards with us, and it was incredible, such beautiful creatures, actually there were tiger sharks, brown and with white dots. We are at the Pacific Islands (Club PIC). It is like a kids-club, most of the guests are Korean or Russian, the food is great, the activities are amazing and the staff is mostly composed of happy Filipinos, also lots of music and laugher on the island. I really recommend it. It is very simple, nothing luxurious at all, but the ambiance is beautiful. Most Japanese people go to more up-scale hotels around, but we like it here for its simplicity. Come visit if you want a quick fix of the sun, only 3 hours from Tokyo by plane and you can be swimming in the blue ocean and drinking margaritas! oh.. amd tonight I will be watching the new movie with Sandra Bullock, The Proposal, I heard that it is a good movie. Goodnight! (Photos taken by Daddy of his little family. My husband Ken flew in to spend the weekend with us. We are a happy family….)

My adorable son, Luca Kei The first time Luca said I love you Mommy to me….. a big step for any little boy who overcame autism due to mercury poisoning from the vaccines he received when he was 18 months old. After his second shot of DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio) followed by the flu vaccine (the worst with MMR), he went until a shock and he has never been the same afterward. He would spend his days looking at one object close by his eyes and spinning it around, he would scream and cry, bite us and hit us like a wild animal. We would be covered with bruises on our body and had to protect his brother from him 24 hours a day. Luca was in so much pain because of the poisoning that he became furious and restless. We found out later that he had holes in his intestines also food was making him sick, and that the mercury had attached to all his essential organs and most scarily into his little brain. He would stare out by the window for hours rocking his body with the same pattern, aligning his little toys and become mad if we ever moved one around. He never looked into our eyes anymore, he was deeply absent. He never heard us calling him anymore, we thought he became deaf, but the tests denied it. He was like possessed and living in a different word from us. It was heartbreaking, devastating. Our entire family was grieving. After countless testings, doctors in Japan told us he would have to live in a special home in the future and that there was nothing we could do. Until he was 4 years old, Luca did not say any word, zero, he was not mute but could only make noises or scream in a high pitch voice. I refused this diagnostic and swear to Luca at night when he finally had felt asleep, that I would do anything I could possibly do to have him back. I wrote a poem one night, I know it is saved somewhere in one of my computers, office or home. I will try to find it, it was beautiful what I wrote… I was not even sure Luca would ever been able to read it someday. I must find it because now he surely can! Luca did not know until he was 4 years old, that I was his mother, and used to address me as “Noa’s Mom”. (Noa is his middle brother, Ben his oldest). This was after he could talk a little when he passed his 4th birthday….. Noa’s Mom, how painful…. it used to break my heart, but I kept believing that one day he will know that I am his mother, that I love him so much and that everything will be fine, that Luca will live a normal life. It was hard because I had to work during the day and study some more at night time, hours on my computer, trying to find help or a  miraculous cure for Luca. Looking back I can say that we did everything we could. We traveled to Europe, USA, Asia to meet with doctors and non-doctors, therapists and parents with a child in the same condition as ours. I felt I would not sleep until Luca would be ok. And yes, in the meantime, I had to train the finalists, my winners, sell sponsorship, run the office, attend TV and magazines shoots, implement events…. I do not know now how I could survive with the all thing. Well… I had no choice, if I stopped working I had to lay off people working for me. I  was worried if I was to stop working, I has become insane and also we spent so much money with treatments of all sorts that we would have been bankrupted by now and end up homeless in a country where everything is so expensive! I always say that I graduated from Google University of Medicine, because honestly I learned everything throughout the internet, searching constantly for new therapies or treatments that I could try on Luca. Without internet, it would not have been possible. I would never have learn from doctors, or people living on the other side of the world from us. I came back home, after the doctor in Tokyo told me, that there was nothing HE or WE  could do, that we had to accept Luca’s condition and that he would be handicapped for the rest of HIS, OUR lives. I cried and even vomit. I remember passing out in the kitchen late at night, and waking up later in agony, crying still on our kitchen floor because I was bleeding inside. My baby had been taken away from me, he was screaming for help but i did not know yet what to do…… And then everything started in my journey to recover my son. I felt this immense rage inside of me growing like volcano ready to erupt, I felt invincible , some kind of bionic-mom, a warrior ready to fight against injustice and fatality.  From the kitchen. I walked to our computer, it must have been midnight, I took a deep breath and then I typed the word AUTISM on the Google search engines. So many links came up, about the condition, the treatments that were available, about parents’ testimonies. Most interestingly, the majority was saying that there child was not born like this, but that they had found out that he/she had been mercury or heavy metal poisoned!? And this gave me hope. Because I knew that Luca was born like any other regular child, he was “normal”, he blew his candles for his 1st birthday and then something terribly wrong had happened later on, suddenly. Also it gave me hope that I could do something to recover him. My mission had started, one day at a time, a week, then months, then years,,,, it took us 5 years! When Luca became sick, early February of 2003. Miyako Miyazaki had just won and was preparing to compete at Miss Universe in Panama. She can tell you how it was at home with Luca, she leaved every moments with us because she used to be with us at home a lot. Now we are in 2009 and the great news is that Luca is officially a regular little boy, with an incredible memory, sense of humor, social skills, sports skills, leadership and extremely independent. If I wrote this topic today it is because I would like my story to be an inspiration for parents out there. Also, if you have someone with a little one, boy or girl with the same problem, or if you know a family with an angel like Luca, please ask me any questions, feel free to connect with me. Leave your email address with questions in a comment on my blog and I promise I will reply to you personally. I also speak at seminars for parents with a child with Autism related symptom in Japan, and I can invite you to attend. I will share with you everything we did to turn Luca’s destiny around. He now lives a completely normal life and people would never tell that one day this little boy could not relate at all with the world that we live in. Oh… and I have a big favor to ask one of you…. I would love to have someone translating this post in Japanese for me. I of course wish to help Japanese families. Thank you so much in advance. You can write the translation as a comment below and I will copy and past it in this post with your full name. Love, ines see this…

What do you do if school is off for a week and you have 2 little monters who want to have fun and to jump around all day long???? Well, I booked ouselves in a resort in Saipan for the week, I packed a suicase full of summer clothes, mostly swimwear, t-shirts and short-pants, and got on the plane direction … the sun! We are in Saipan, a remote island between the Philippines and Hawaii with white sand beaches and wall of wild coral. Tomorrow we are boarding a boat quite early and we are going to dive and explore the beautiful scenery under the sea.  we basically are at least 7 hours non-stop in the water. I believe I was a fish in a past life! The resort is nice, very simple and basic but with good food, and everyone is Filipino here also i feel home (miss you Juls and Rems!) I remember Lauren Hutton here, when I had arranged for her to come and scuba-dive for a week when she came to HKG for the pass over back in 1999.  She was a fan of deep diving, same as me,　and she came back after a week with incredible photos to show me, among them one with a shark! She is a scorpion like me, nothing stops her…. It is good to relax as well because the past week has been really busy. I will post some pictures very soon. A demain!

TOMORROW AT THE CONRAD HOTEL FROM 10:30 AM TO 2:00 PM I WILL BE DOING A TALK SHOW ABOUT BEAUTY AND HOW I HAVE WORKED WITH PROACTIV AND THE FINALISTS SINCE THE  PAST 5 YEARS. These pictures were taken at the grand entrance of the Proactiv headquarters in Tokyo. Cheers to all of you and if you have acne and have not yet tried Proativ, sincerely start now, it really works for the majority of people who tries it. I can give you countless testimonies from my friends as well as among the past finalists. The beautiful Naomi Obata’s CM for Proactiv will start airing next week on television. Check it out!

We had fun last night at the studio Mouri in Roppongi where Beyonce came to meet some people invited for the event. We danced a lot on the Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga together with Emiri. Moet & Chandon always helps girls to feel happy… It was the first time we were going out together in so long! I love Emiri’s energy and she always laugh and I like to hear her contagious laugh…. We had an interview together for MUJ mobile site about cosmetics at my home, and then we drove together to the party to meet Beyonce. Hiriko called us that she was still shooting for her TV program and could not make it on time to join us. Too bad… We met also some past finalists, Lena and Ai Tsuchiya. Beyonce looked great and was nice to everybody sharing her fashion tips and talking about her trip to Japan this time and of her 2 concerts at the Saitama Arena. I saw her at the Grand Hyatt this afternoon when she was leaving for her concert at around 2 pm after having lunch with my 2 boys at Salvatore. Scarlett Johanson is also walking the red carpet tonight for the premiere of her last movie. We saw the rehearsals with my boys. Tokyo is so Hollywood these days… this is what I love about this town, so much is happening always, you can never get bored. Will post some pictures when I get them from Ai chan, we did not have our cameras with Emiri also we did not take any pictures… Emiri is at the concert tonight, standing between the stage and the proction in front of the front rows seats, yes… with the bodyguards! I deceided to stay home with my 2 boys and watch a movie in our theater at home eating pop corn. Saitama is too far away tonight as tomorrow I will start working very early for a big event of Proactiv at the Conrad Hotel in Tokyo. Emiri has a Gold tournement tomorrow but hey… she has the energy of her twenties!

So funny! This is filmed near my village, called Sommieres, located in the South of France. A 30 mn drive from Montpellier. Some random guy on his bicycle exercising, and then suddenly he is greeted by lots of people pretending that he has just won an etape of LE TOUR DE FRANCE. (It actually passes by my village each year… CLICK HERE! (THEN SCROLL TO FIND THE ABOVE PICTURE. ) many very funny videos on this site.