#176 Women’s Wellness Over 40: Face Yoga for Natural Radiance

What if taking just a few mindful minutes each day could transform how you feel about your face, your skin, and yourself?

In this episode of Healing Through Love, we explore women’s wellness through the powerful and gentle practice of face yoga with holistic beauty educator Carin Andresen. Designed especially for women over 40, this conversation reframes ageing as a time of self-connection rather than self-criticism.

Carin shares her personal journey from international modelling to natural skincare development and, ultimately, to face yoga after navigating menopause-related skin challenges and hair loss. Her story highlights a deeper truth: outer beauty evolves, but inner radiance grows when we nurture ourselves with intention.

Listeners will discover how face yoga blends breathwork, facial exercises, acupressure, massage, and relaxation to support skin hydration, reduce puffiness, ease tension, and improve overall wellbeing. These techniques are simple, proven, and designed to be practiced at home, without expensive tools or invasive treatments.

More than skincare, this episode is an invitation to slow down and practise self-love. Carin explains how face yoga can relieve headaches, support lymphatic drainage, and help women reconnect with their bodies during midlife transitions. You will also learn why it is never too late to learn something new and how even a short daily ritual can create lasting change.

This episode offers a grounded, empowering perspective on ageing, wellness, and confidence. It reminds us that caring for ourselves does not have to be complicated or time consuming, and that true radiance comes from within.

✨ CONNECT WITH CARIN

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573235356160

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/people/Face-Yoga-New-Zealand/61573235356160/

♥ ♥

Transcript

Intro | 00:00
The Healing Through Love podcast with Sharlene Lynch and Rose Davidson. 

 Sharlene | 00:08
Hello and welcome to the Healing Through Love podcast. I'm Sharlene Lynch and together we are shining a light on hope, resilience and transformation in the journey to end domestic violence. Each week we bring you inspiring interviews with change makers, survivors, advocates and experts who are making a difference in the lives of those affected by domestic and family violence. Whether you're on this journey or you're supporting someone who is, this is your space for powerful stories, practical tools and heartfelt inspiration. Let's heal at the speed of love. I love it. Today we've got Carin and Carin Andresen. I'm just going to keep practicing that until I get it right. Her story is one of beauty, resilience and reinvention. Growing up in a small German village, she never imagined her passion for well-being would take her around the world. First as a qualified beauty therapist, then as an international model working in Italy, Hong Kong and New Zealand. It's a beautiful story. I hope we get there. But behind the runway lights, Karin saw the damage harsh products cause on people's skin. Determined to find a better way, she teamed up with her father, a scientist, and created a natural skincare range powered by pine bark extract, a remarkable antioxidant that now is at the heart of her beautiful treatments. Her journey took her took another turn through menopause, post menopause and that entire look, it should be a roadmap menopause. I'm telling you that's another subject where she faced skin challenges and hair loss and experienced a deepened which deepened her mission and led her to face yoga. What is face yoga? We're going to find out today. A practice that blends Movement, Massage and Mindfulness. Today, Karin empowers women to reclaim both their inner radiance and their inner vitality. I love it and welcome. Hello, Carin. 

 Carin | 02:08
Hello, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me. 

 Sharlene | 02:13
Thank you for joining us today. And look, as a woman, I turned 59 tomorrow. 
 So I'm very close to 60. You know, anti-aging, it's a subject that we sort of lean into on a daily basis from the things that we drink, the things that we do, and the things that we, you know, just put on our skin as well. 
 So tell us the story of how you got from where you were to where you are now. 

 Carin | 02:38
I guess what happened as I grew up and when I started my modeling after finishing beauty therapy, my modeling career, and it took me all over the world, it was just the shining. It was the outside. It's how you looked. It's not so much how you felt and what's going on inside of you. And I believe that because we grew up in an era where we were seen and not heard, and So I had very little confidence and it was very structured and normal than Germany, very disciplined, very organized. And we weren't, we didn't have a voice and that kind of served me for a while because I didn't know any different. And with modeling, I kind of gained my confidence because I was seen, but not Then, of course, later on, what happens is, you know, you did another flavor of the month. You change your hair color. You're noticing more wrinkles. You're going through life. And I thought there's just so much more to life. And we're getting older now. That's a fact. And I just thought you can't stop the aging factor, but how you feel, right? You can. And it's really... A lot about that. And I guess When I was in my mid-50s and I was living in Berlin at the time and COVID hit, the world stood still. And I wasn't sure really, you couldn't go out, you couldn't go to beauty therapists. And that's really when I came across facial yoga. And I thought, this is amazing. There's so much magic in our own hands. And we're so busy training our bodies, right? 
 You know, generally, and we were forgetting about the facial muscles. And we do have over 58 and muscles that are either over or underused. And with, powerful massage techniques and exercises, you can relax and breathing techniques, especially, you know, when you've got anxiety, which I did have a lot during COVID, right? And it just happens because you don't know what's going to happen in this world. And I just found it amazing, the combination of combining everything. 

 Sharlene | 05:08
I love it. As a woman who has managed her own anxieties through being, let's call me neuro spicy. I am a bag of mixed lollies here with my abledly different brain. And yeah, I love yoga. I'm not really good at it, but I do love it. It's sort of fun. Put on those tight pants and to be, you know, I like the lying down, relaxing yoga over the, that was really hard. But I still like all forms of yoga and I find them great to do on a regular basis. But I like doing it on retreats as well. There's something more magnificent about doing yoga in beautiful settings. But tell me more about face yoga. How does that work? Do you do it at the same time? Is it something you do differently? Is it part of your morning routine? How does it fit in? 

 Carin | 06:01
I do. It's part of my every morning routine. It's something that it's non-negotiable because the beauty about it, the muscles in the face are a lot shorter. 
 So it doesn't take that long. It's more about consistency and accountability. And that is important that you learn to do it correctly and you know what you're doing. And you just, it's a nurturing thing. It's a matter of self-love and self-care and I just think it's so amazing that you can do that in the comfort of your own home and it doesn't take long. You can even do some exercises while you're driving in the car. 
 You know, while you're stopping at the traffic lights, you might make some funny poses and people just look at you and make a laugh. Who cares? It is something and you can feel it, you know, the muscles, you know, the masseter muscle, the chewing muscles, the strongest muscle in our body. And it's so overused or, you know, when you grind with your teeth and you have a lot of jaw tension. And You can actually, there are acupressure points. There's so much. That you can actually do to help yourself. And that's what I really love about it. That's what I'm so passionate about. 

 Sharlene | 07:23
I love it. So I'm a recovered beauty therapist myself. I ran a beauty school for more than three decades. Mine was more about makeup artistry and bridal makeup. And so one of the things that we taught our students was acupressure point facial massage, which is different because we're using acupressure points to do a massage and hold them for a specific length of time. It's not muscle massage. 
 So how is the two different? How is facial yoga different than acupressure points? 

 Carin | 07:55
Well, acupressure points, you're holding them. As you say, you're finding the points, you know, underneath your earlobes, for example, if you've got really tight jaw area. 
 I mean, if you go there and you go for quite firm, you feel it, you know, you kind of have a tight jaw. But the massage is the facial yoga massage. You said you're working with your muscle and not with the skin. 
 So you're going deeper. And that's why it's so important that you do it correctly. And not just I mean, there's so much out there on YouTube, there's a little bit here, a little bit there. And I've had so many clients coming to me and say, Well, I tried that didn't really work. 
 Well, what did you do? And how long did you do it? It's accountability, right? And often if we get an app, and it doesn't cost us much money, we kind of download it, and we're all excited about it. 
 And then we never look at it again. Right. 
 So I'm here really. And that's why I believe it's so important that you have someone because I look at your face. I look what do you specifically want? What do we want help with? 
 And then we go from there and just make sure it's specifically for your needs and the purpose. I love. 

 Sharlene | 09:07
That. I love that. I love that, Carin. And, you know, it really is about self-care, is that we spend so much of our time caring and nurturing for other people. How many minutes of our days, I'm speaking collectively, I'm speaking on my behalf as well, how many minutes of our day are spent with self-care and I'm not talking about maintenance. I'm talking about having a shower and go to the toilet or brushing your teeth I'm talking about what are the things that we do that are outside our door a daily maintenance tasks That are to fill up our own bucket our own libidinal refueling So this is a beautiful test. 
 So how long does this process of facial yoga take? 

 Carin | 09:48
It can be as little as five minutes. I mean, I have got my morning routine. That is just non-negotiable. And I like using a washer because I guess that's a bit of fun as well, you know, because you kind of have that. And again, the washer is how do you use it? If you use it correctly, you know, what movements you do. And there's so many mistakes people make and that can actually cause more harm than it could be. More good. 
 So that is super important. And you always have an oil or serum, so it glides well on your skin. You never want to drag the skin. 
 So there is a little bit to it. But once you know, and that's what I would say to people, you know, I've always got a mirror, just look at yourself in the mirror, just make sure that you know, you do it right. 
 And then therefore it feels right. And it's a journey. It's so beautiful with my clients because they start with one little thing and then it evolves and they notice something else. And it's just so much more, then removing lines or no more wrinkles. It's not about that. It's aging. Happily and gracefully and softly. 
 So and yeah, so you actually radiate from the inside out. It's empowering. It's truly empowering.

 Sharlene | 11:16
Love it. I love it. 
 So I have two. I've got a stainless steel washer and a quartz crystal one, a rose quartz. 
 So is there any difference in between using the metal one and using a quartz crystal one? And can you please explain to our audience what they are? Because they might not know. 

 Carin | 11:35
Well, a gouache is an ancient tool, really, you know, and the rose quartz and then you've got the jade one and then you've got a metal one. So it depends on your skin type. And it's basically unfortunately, I haven't got it right here. 
 So it's like a round shape. It's flat and it normally has got a heart shape. And wherever which area you work on, that depends on the shape and you have. Just make sure you glide it, you know, close to your skin. A lot of mistakes I see where people just... Go vertical like that and just use the tool like that. No, you glide it in an upward motion, you know, up apart from your neck when you drain and you can do lymphatic drainage with it. 
 I mean, that is, it's amazing. You're always finished with that. I love it. Very powerful. 

 Sharlene | 12:28
I love it. I love it. I love it. 
 So I am a firm believer in making sure that we are taking care of our skin. Clearly, it's my background. But yes, and I in my family, I've got people that are just a few years older than me. But look, three decades different age. And the difference is I smoked for 20 years, I drank for 30 years. 
 So it's not lifestyle, it's definitely skincare. And it's not genetics because we're from the same family. 
 So the difference is definitely how you take care of yourself. And as a survivor of family and domestic violence, can I tell you that you have to step up to another level of taking care of yourself? Because we've got all of those years that we didn't to actually catch Our partner as well. I love it. I love it. 
 So can you share with us a little technique that we can share with our audience today? 

 Carin | 13:22
Absolutely. I always start and it's really important and we always often underestimated it's breathing it's just sitting up straight shoulders down because often we have our shoulders up and we just breath is such a powerful tool as well and again we often breathe shallow and especially when we're stressed when we've got anxiety when we Yeah, afraid, whatever it is. 
 So it's really feet firmly to the ground, sit up straight and then gently close your eyes just gently. And I like to have my palms up. 
 So you are into a receiving mode on you can have that on top of your legs up. And then you just breathe slowly in and out through your nose. And I was like in every session, I like to work with an affirmation. And today's affirmation is in this moment, all is well. And you just repeat that silently to yourself. Why are you sitting down and breathing? And just take this time to tune in what's going on. It's not about right or wrong. There's no judgment there. It's just how you feel. Notices your heart racing or your thoughts racing it's all okay try not to push them away just acknowledge them And then notice your breath again in and out through your nose. Just do that. Three more times. Yes, we're here in this space, in this safe space. - Best for you. 
 And then with your last exhalation Gently. Open your eyes. 
 So this is... Always how I start. 
 And then it's really with a shoulder roll, because often we keep so much tension in our shoulders. And really, our face starts with the shoulders. A lot of people don't realize that. They kind of think the face starts there. With your neck. 
 I mean, remember years and years ago, beauty therapists stopped here and then we discovered the neck, but it's really the shoulders. Because if you've got poor posture and really tight shoulders, how can you look open and how can you create the space and the length and the stretch? 
 So some shoulder rolls, I start with one way and the other. And yes, and if you can't do this, a lot of people have got super tight shoulders, you just roll them like that. And if you hear some funny noises, which you often do, that's okay. It just means they haven't been moved a lot. 
 And then you do some neck stretches. You know, the platysma muscle is often so tight and tense because we spend too much time on our phones, social media. 
 So looking down, so we don't stretch it enough. So place your hands slightly on your collarbone, press and slightly, then you look up And then you stretch up. Just make sure you don't create any tension on the back of your neck. Look up, chin forward a little bit and don't forget to breathe in and out through your nose. Can you feel that nice stretch? 
 So you hold that for about 10 seconds and then to your right, 45 degrees, you look up and this gives you lovely side stretch. Your neck. Behold that... 
 So you can really feel that. So you don't have to go to your maximum. You just go where it feels, where you can feel it, the stretch. Because if you want to lift it lower, face You can only do that if this is open and this is open. Lengthen and hasn't got that much tension. 
 And then for the jaw area, we can do a little hook. You know, with our thumbs. Super important, always have clean hands, ideally clean face. 
 And then you can leave that, you know, even you can do that while you're watching TV or something like that. Just hook there in the middle and then you just glide around. And you can apply a little bit of your favorite serum or lotion. 
 And then you just that little indentation in your earlobe. Do you feel that? And just massage there. And this might be a little bit painful, a little bit sore. If you've got a tight jaw, could be. 
 So just play around because often, again, the hip, the jaw is connected to our hips. So there's a lot of connection, you know, a lot of women have got tight hips and therefore it could be a tight jaw. Can you feel that? 
 Yeah. Yeah. 
 Yeah. And then we can do a classic one. That's always like, so it's like a yawning one. 
 So if you look up and you create lines on your forehead, that means you haven't trained your eyes to open up enough. So you can place slightly your hand on your forehead. Then you look up, then you drop lines. Your jaw like an O shape and you look up and you hold it and don't forget to breathe. 
 And then you just stop that. So 10 seconds, three times, there have been studies done before and after. And it's unbelievable the blood flow that it creates in your face. And that's what we want. We want circulation. 
 So if you ever experience any little bit of redness, that's fine. That's good. That means blood flows to the skin, produces collagen, allist and production. 
 So that's just a little bit. I mean, there's so much more, of course, but. We don't have that much time. And every phase is different, right? Depends on your face, where you're holding the tension, where you want to work more. And that's the beauty about it. It doesn't require a huge amount of time. 

 Sharlene | 20:09
I love it. I love it. I could be doing facial yoga all night. This is such a beautiful experience. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. And all of your links will be in the show notes and in the show description. And I'm excited that you're going to be doing the expo there in New Zealand in October. 
 So that's next month for us. We're just at the beginning of September. And so if you are in New Zealand, make sure you'll make your way to the expo, which will be amazing. I love it. I Talking, I can't believe it for 20 minutes already. 

 Carin | 20:42
Wow. 

 Sharlene | 20:43
Lucky we're keeping a timer because we would be talking all day. I would love for you to share your final words of wisdom with our beautiful audience today. 

 Carin | 20:53
Just remember, it's never, ever about time. You always have time. You always make time. It's for you. You're never too old. To start. Facial yoga. And it's a matter of it will become once you find your whatever area you want to work on, it feels it will be like brushing your teeth. It's just it's consistency that will happen. And you just feel like you haven't brushed your teeth after a while if you don't do it. And that's the beauty about it. 
 And then, yeah. 

 Sharlene | 21:31
I love that. I love that. I love that. Thank you so much for joining us today. It's been a privilege and a pleasure. And in the show notes and in the show description, you'll find all of the links. Thank you so much for joining us today. It's a goodbye from healing through love and a goodbye from Carin. Bye for now. 

 Carin | 21:51
Thank you. Bye-bye. 

 Outro | 21:56
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Healing Through Love. You can get further resources, see the show notes or simply reach out to us via our website at htlaustralia.org. Thanks so much for joining us and we look forward to your company next time on the Healing Through Love podcast.