Natural Botox Alternative & Why Fascia Is So Important with Cathy Goldstein

One of the things that I really focus on is, is that the muscles of the face have a function. When we freeze the muscles of the face, we decrease our ability to connect with others. Teens don't develop their neuropathways for the understanding the emotions until they're about 21 as a girl, 25 as a boy. But it's vital. That is our job as a parent is to teach our children emotional intelligence by being able to understand different emotional expressions. Based on what's called micromirroring.

Welcome to The Biohack Method. I am Lindsey Burwell. I break down the science, cut the fluff, and give you real tools to optimize your body with peptides, transdermal patches, and root cause biohacking that actually works. Welcome back to The Biohack Method podcast. You guys are in for a real treat because we're going to talk about health longevity, but also about our skin and how sometimes going inward is really the key and not just focusing on that outward when you're thinking about that glass skin, that glowy skin that you're wanting. I I have Kathy Goldstein here. Thank you so much for coming. I wanna hear your story. How did you get into this work?

Yeah, so interestingly enough, we have a little parallel there because I know your health journey really shaped your future and brought you to the work that you do now. And very much of the same concept of where I started is, is I, uh, got very sick with Crohn's disease and, uh, it kind of diverted me from doing osteopathic school to acupuncture school. So it was really a journey that was unfortunately more like a sledgehammer of awareness that made me realize that I really needed to go into the holistic area, because when I was in the medical paradigm, it saved my life. I, you know, almost died a couple of times, so it totally saved my life. But I also realized that It had a respiratory system, it had a digestive system, it didn't have a healing system. And so that was really my journey into figuring out what the healing system is and how it really shows up in a lot of different ways in our body. So from there, I really just kind of went down the acupuncture, acupuncture physician, and very quick— quickly went into energy medicine as well as the neuroemotional science. On emotional intelligence and our physiology and health and wellness.

That is such a plot twist, but also so huge because it's funny, the podcast, you know, is called The Biohacked Method. And I think a lot of people think, oh, you know, diet, workouts, red light therapy, cold plunge. But actually what they would be surprised is listening to these conversations, I always talk about how we're more than just our flesh, our body. There's more to us, right? And the traditional American lifestyle and what Western medicine, I love it. It also saved my life multiple times. However, it's very reactive.

Right.

It's not proactive, and it looks at things at this catastrophic range. But why would we want to implement lifestyle change when we're in that range? Why aren't we looking at it from a proactive range where there might be things out of balance? And also, I don't know if you feel this way, but I feel like a lot of the times we're operating in vacuums. Okay, hormones. Okay, your gut. Okay, this, but we're not looking at the body as a whole. And our body is, it's collaborative. It's all working and talking together at once. It's not about targeting this, this one system. Did you find that to be true for you too?

Yeah, so that's the basis of Chinese medicine.

Yeah.

Is, is that it's more finding the root cause, that those symptoms are just symptoms that give me information, but it's not what I'm, Treating. I'm not treating the symptoms because if I want long-term results, I need to treat the underlying issue and bring the whole system together. Because like you said, we're an entire system, not just our physical body, but our emotional body, body as well, and our physiology.

Yeah.

If, let's say, women who are listening and they are going through a health crisis, or maybe they're like me where I was, you know, 15 years ago, I was running marathons, I was eating fruits and vegetables, but I was 25 pounds heavier I had crippling anxiety. I had imbalanced hormones. I would go to the doctors, and they— my labs looked normal. I had IBS, all kinds of imbalance in my gut, but I felt so terrible, but my labs were normal. Let's say a woman came to work with you that had all of that. Where would you start with them?

Right. Well, it's an interesting phenomena.

Yeah.

That we should have this, the, this single blood test that tells us everything's in range. And the concept of range is, a mystery in itself in how they got to the numbers that they did to actually determine whether something's in range or not, but it still just looks at one system at a time.

Mm-hmm.

So, Chinese medicine really is more synergistic with the— with our, uh, our, our environment, you know, like the flow of energy. It's why I got into energy medicine is because it's, you know, the, the, the labs have give a value, but I'm looking at the person in front of me. I'm communicating and talking and feeling the person in front of me. And diagnostically, that's, you know, I'm gonna use my resources and just asking questions that are not just pertaining to the things that you bring up, but also like, well, what's your menstrual cycle like? And, you know, all of the other things that people might not put together, you know, not just even how are you sleeping, but literally, you know, even sometimes what side of your body do you sleep on? And the face is a diagnostic tool as well. So I'm taking the pulse, looking at the tongue, looking at the face, and really diagnosis on that basis, as well as the emotions that are predominant, because that tells me a lot about someone's imbalance.

It's so funny because I ultimately started finding holistic medicine, and that's how I got into my line of work too. And I remember I went to my first naturopath, and she asked me to show, Um, her my tongue. Yeah, I was like, why do you want to see my tongue, right? And I think there's still a lot of woo-ness people feel about that, like, oh, my tongue, or muscle testing, right? But I have worked with muscle testing physicians that literally knew more about me than I knew about me, and they could pinpoint times in my life that I went through things that I was like, how could you have even known that?

Yes.

The energy work is so real. And so, um, I just think that Chinese medicine and, you know, really looking at the body again as a whole is so important.

Absolutely. And I think that, uh, I actually use muscle testing in my practice as well. Yeah.

Amazing.

Uh, I do a neuro-emotional technique, uh, that also uses that to really just kind of guide us to like this pinpoint precision area of what happened in your life that is causing some of the issues that you're having. But I think that that's something that we don't, look at often is, is that the symptoms that we have are— there's, let's put it this way. I've never met an autoimmune disorder that didn't have an emotional component. I've never met a chronic illness that didn't have an emotional component. There are so many things tied to our emotions and how we carry things, as well as even how we carry it on our face. I mean, the face is a representation of our history. It's right here.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I feel that so I have a friend, she was messaging to me that she had been going to all these doctors and getting MRIs and brain scans and all this stuff. And she's got all these autoimmune things. And I was trying to find a way to lovingly say, I wonder if it's just misalignment in your soul. Because that can feel like you don't feel seen.

Yeah.

Or maybe misunderstood or diminishing of the symptoms or the severity. I don't know if you've had experiences like that where people come to you and you can just see sometimes it's really just this emotional layer.

Yeah, I think there's always going to be an emotional layer at some point that comes up.

Okay, I love that. So where does True Energy come into this journey?

Through my own mirror moment.

I need to hear about this.

Yeah. There's many a times where, you know, like we wake up in the morning and we look in the mirror and we think to ourselves, oh my gosh, when did that happen? You know? But I had my own mirror moment at about 49, many years ago. And I, I just caught myself inadvertently in the mirror unexpectedly. And what I saw was not a reflection of what I was feeling. I was feeling, you know, that vitality. I was doing— I was walking the walk, eating the right foods, exercising, meditating, getting treatments. And when I saw myself in the mirror, I thought, what's— why? Why is that not reflecting how I feel? And that's what made me take a deep dive into the emotions that are stuck on our face from old traumas, old pain, old, you know, like what I call the, you know, the life's disappointments or our divorce lines or our, you know, intensity lines that are chronic. Facial expressions of a history that sometimes is no longer serving us, but it's still showing up on our face.

Yeah, that is so powerful. And so what, when, when you had that mirror moment, what happened after that?

So I went back to my clinic and I really started evaluating what, you know, what that really meant. And what I realized is 3 different things. One was that There were, there are so many layers to the face that I was able to kind of take a deeper dive into the muscles, lymphatic system, the fascia, and all of the underlying tissues that I hadn't really evaluated in the same way. The second is, is that we needed a solution. Yeah.

I need some help. Mm-hmm.

Yes, exactly. I tried lots of lotions and potions, and people said, "Well, maybe it's time to get Botox," and I was like, "That kind of goes against my philosophy." And what I realized is that we just really needed a natural ability to release the muscles of our face that were aging us prematurely because they were pulling lines. They were making those lines around our mouth and from our nose to our chin and. losing our jawline and the intensity on the, what we call the 11, and the lines on our forehead and the dragging of the eyelid. All of those things are from muscles pulling and then locking in.

You know what's so wild about this conversation is I just had my first lymphatic facial yesterday.

Oh, wow.

And I was thinking, so she told me my jaw was locked Probably because I just got Invisalign, which I'm regretting. My jaw is tight. But as she was cupping my face, I started thinking about how we have fascia in our face. And I know that sounds like a duh, but I never thought about that. I think about fascia in my body and like lymphatics and the drainage system, but I never thought about longevity and anti-aging from like a fascia. perspective. So what would you— how would you kind of educate women who maybe they're listening to this and they are traditionally the Botox girl, that's how you prevent wrinkles and aging, and they're using whatever their esthetician gives them, which is who knows what's in it, but they want to start taking ownership of their skin and start revitalizing their skin? Like, where would they start?

Yeah, well, first of all, there is that little bit of You know, education and understanding, right? The muscles of the body are the heavy lifters. The muscles of the face are our expressions and our emotions. So, and the lymphatic system that you're talking about in our body has a pumping system, and those muscles pump the lymphatic system and clear toxins. Our face doesn't have that. The muscles attach directly to the skin, and that's why we can have all of those facial expressions that make us who we are uniquely.

Mm-hmm.

to each other as well as our ability to express ourselves, right? So that's, that's one is just kind of some understanding of the anatomy of the, of the face and that when that fascia twists around the muscle, it tends to hold it even after we've thought we've released that facial expression. So one of the things that we really are addressing is, is that we're, Yeah. You know, with the true energy is releasing the muscles that are dragging our face around. Like the neck is holding a bowling ball constantly, so it starts to tighten and shorten. And those are the signs that show up with aging. And so the signs that show up with the chin is where the chin curls up, and we call it such pleasant names like the witch's chin, right? Or the marionette lines. These are all muscles that are tightening around the mouth. Same thing with the muscles that tighten around the eyes and between the eyes that actually pull the eyelid down. So all of those muscles are, can be released, and you can pick a couple of different ways, right? Botox takes away the ability for the muscle to move.

Mm-hmm.

So we lose the, our authentic self, 'cause facial expressions are our calling card. It's how we communicate, it's how we connect with each other. Or we can figure out a way to release those and have that rejuvenation and turning back the hands of time a little bit, and, but still having our authentic self. Yeah.

Yeah. Do you, what are your thoughts on lymphatic facials? Do you feel like that would be a good step to release some of that?

Yeah. So, um, yeah, so interestingly enough, the, the idea of all of the things that are available, either from an acupuncturist who does who does longevity or natural facelifts through, you know, estheticians who are doing things like cupping and gua sha and, you know, dermal work and things like that. What I wanted is an ability for women to practice 7 minutes a day of self-care, self-love, and be able to get those same results at their home. So it was the convenience of their house. So, yes, all of those things are, you know, are helpful. And I certainly— I mean, I have a opinions about a lot of different things that are happening, but ultimately, if you are doing something that— and this is my guideline— if you're not going against nature, you're going with nature, you're on the right track.

I love that. So with True Energy, does it come with instructions?

Oh yeah.

Okay, can we dive into that? Sure. Yeah.

Yes. So True Energy is a system. And the system has 5 skincare pieces to it. So it has a cleanser and a scrub. Those are super important. Taking off the dead skin cell barrier is huge for product penetration and really changing the surface level aspect of our skin. And then there's a day treatment and a night treatment and a serum. And then with those 5 products, there's a tool. And the tool is infused with frequencies, with patterns that are exactly what our body resonates to when it's healthy and youthful, like a healthy cell. In every one of the products, there's a little green bead, and those green beads are also imprinted with that signature frequency that helps to really connect that, our body, to what the vibration should be when we are functioning at our peak. Best. And then there's a specific protocol, a 7-minute protocol, that I've got steps for those protocols. And we also have videos, and I also do webinars.

Yes. Oh my gosh, that sounds so incredible. And so when did you launch True Energy?

So it was born in 2009. Wow. Yeah. So, um, but I put it with— I, I thought to myself, well, I don't know anything about marketing. I'm a physician. I have Brick and mortar. I have a practice, and I so I actually went out to a lot of different marketing companies, and I did a study, a third-party study with Dr. Biglise, who was well known, who was was well known in the industry of research, and I found out something really valuable as for all y'all entrepreneurs is is that you can. Sell your own product through often authentic self, because marketing companies don't understand it the same way that you do for your product, right? You represent your product the best and answer questions that are real questions, like we're sitting here, we're talking about today. And so it took me until 2018 to take my product back and start, you know, marketing it myself. And that's really where True Energy took off.

That's amazing. 'Cause you are the testimony, right? You, it is your baby from your pain to purpose. Yes. And people love authentic connection and they wanna know like what it's done for you. So what has been some of the testimonies that you have seen women, whether they broke up with Botox and started using your system?

Oh yeah.

Or like what have been some of those amazing stories?

Yeah.

So, um, I do have a lot of people who have had Botox and, uh, and, you know, I get it. I get it. At 49, when I had that mirror moment, I was like, should I consider that? I mean, I actually considered that as a concept because the pressure is so great when we're looking at, like, especially right now, social media and things like that that really are driving this force of us feeling bad about ourselves. And ultimately, women who are thinking, well, maybe I don't want to do a toxin, I want to clean up my body, I want to clean up my environment. Botox is on that list. And I— they have amazing results. I actually have some before and afters, like of one woman with a side, one side of her face that she has Botox and fillers on both. And she did True Energy on one side and the side that she did True Energy, got things that you can't get out of Botox. Like you can't get the pop in the jaw and the, and the cheekbone line. And so it actually looked better. And then I've had a lot of women. The biggest story is, is I went back to an event, whether it be a reunion or a family event, and everybody asks me, did you do something?

Yeah.

You know, did you have a little nip and tuck? Because they look so much more refreshed and that vitality shows. I mean, the before and afters are fantastic. Even on the website, the before and afters are great. And I've got a lot, so, so many stories like that. I mean, I have women who are 85. She did 30 days of before and after and we were floored at only 30 days. And then I have women who are in their 30s that are postpartum because all of those hormones really lacks the, ligaments and tendons in our face as well as our body, and seeing amazing, like, lifting and rejuvenating there as well.

That's incredible. So I hear you and totally agree that the, the cultural norm to get Botox and to get everything done is so heightened, and there can be a lot of pressure of, if I don't, am I going to be the one that looks terrible, right? And so what would you say to the woman also to educate on Botox? I don't think there's enough education on what Exactly it is and what it does.

Okay, so there's a lot of new research that indicates you know a lot of variables with the Botox. I mean, you can go online and look at you know Botox injuries. We are definitely seeing that Botox goes down the nerve and inhibits the ACTH, which is significant to our you know the contractions. One of the things that I really focus on is is that the muscles of the face. have a function. And when we freeze the muscles of the face, we decrease our ability to connect with others. So whether you're a mom communicating with your teen, if they can't read your facial expressions, it actually stresses their brain out. Teens don't develop their, their neuropathways for the understanding the emotions until they're about 21 as a girl, 25 as a boy. But it's vital. That is our job as a parent, is to teach our children emotional intelligence by being able to understand different emotional expressions based on what's called micromirroring. And so that micromirror is, it's our brain giving us signals as to how somebody else feels so that we can respond to them in an appropriate way. You know, if you're in the dating scene, the first thing people tend to go to is thinking that they need to kind of go into that you know, Botox mode. But what if you're sitting in front of a, you know, a date that you're really interested in and you can't connect with them, or you think you're connecting with them, but you can't give them that coquettish smile, you know, or that eye lift or that little flirtatious look. That person might walk away thinking you're not interested and not understand what happened.

Yeah, it's so powerful. No, I, I agree. I have never gotten Botox. And but it's funny because I get Like thoughts, and I'll have random days where I'm like, should I, should I go? Everyone else is doing it. But I know what botulism is and what it does. And I, my, a lot of my work is in detoxification and drainage pathways and lymphatics. And so it's like, how could I do that knowing how important that process is? And I've also worked with women who have had Botox injuries, you know, and that is scary.

It is scary. It is scary. But, you know, you know, I get it. I understand why we go that direction. I think, I think the conversation really goes to a new, a new culture. And there are so many more people really wanting to be their authentic self. So really, it's kind of like, what social media are you plugging into? You could plug into this whole realm of social media that is about being our authentic self and showing up as our authentic self. That doesn't mean we don't need to care about how we look. We all wanna age gracefully. We all wanna look our absolute best. And this is just, these are just the possibilities, the alternatives to being able to do that and to be able to come over to the other side.

Yeah. And I think ultimately just that reassurance to ourselves that our bodies are so incredible, and it doesn't matter what we've gone through, they are always on our side to constantly heal. And sometimes it's just a matter of blocking out the noise, going inward, tapping into our inner knowing, and allowing Natural remedies to support our body, right? To get back to the, to get back to our roots and to get back into an environment where our bodies were designed to thrive. Removing artificial ingredients, detoxing, right? Detoxing not just what you eat, but who you're around. You know, it's, it's amazing the transformations you can have utilizing natural ingredients and just your lymphatics. You can get a full facelift, right? So, oh my gosh, Kathy, this has been such a great conversation. For women who are really looking to take back their skincare and really go inward on natural medicine, where can they find you and tap into your resources?

So at truenergyskincare.com, which is true as T-R-U energy skincare.com. And that's where you'll see the 5-piece facelift set with the instructions as well as some other items. I'm like you said, I'm all about the nontoxic, you know, foundation. So all of the ingredients are super, super clean. Um, and then, or KathyGoldstein.com. Of course, on social media, True Energy Skincare.

That's so amazing. Thank you all for tuning in today. I am doing something so fun. We are gonna be doing a giveaway for a 24-pack of, um, patches of your choice. All you have to do is A, make sure you are subscribed to the channel, and then 2, leave a comment, your biggest takeaway, your biggest aha moment, something that really imprinted on your heart as you Listen to this episode. We are going to go through when this launches and pick one of you to send a detox or metabolism or energy patch to. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you on the next one. That's it for today's episode of The Biohack Method. If this lit something up in you, do me a favor, share it, tag me @lindseburwellwellness, and drop a review. Ready to dive deeper? Head to the show notes for peptides, patches, and programs that are changing the game For high-performing women like you.