The five-minute miracle

Get a friend to lay their hands on you. It's just as good a pick-me-up as a glass of champagne

Are the stresses of the day getting to you? Is tension tying you in knots? It is? Then maybe what you need is a quick pick-me-up massage. Just five magic minutes' worth can ease the tense and aching muscles in your neck and shoulders, soothing away headaches, and leave you re­laxed and ready to take on the world.

Masseur Robert has developed a streamlined stress-ting massage that is much in demand among workers the frazzled world of the City of London. But, anyone, claims, can learn the technique, it's so simple.

'You don't need to be an expert - massage is the oldest self-healing system in the world,' he says. 'You instinctively rub any aches and pains away, don't you? Which means that colleagues at work and family and friends at home can master it and then take turns to de -ess one another.

It's also perfectly possible to give yourself a massage, he says. A gentle pummelling of the small of the back, for instance, helps break up tension in that overstressed area. Gentle kneading with the finger tips to loosen the scalp eases headaches, while facial massage can keep lines at bay. You can even massage your own hands and feet, gently pulling tired, crampled fingers and toes back into shape.

In fact, says Robert - who did part of his massage training in China, where groups of elderly people gather in the parks at dawn to exercise together - staying mobile helps keep you young all over. It's not old age that makes people stiff and slow. It's our inflexible, sedentary way of life and lack of movement that bring on the years too soon.

Ex.5 Make sure you know the meaning of these expressions. Make up sentences with them:

pick-me-up; to soothe away; to take on the world; stream -lined busting massage; frazzled world; to take turns; to de - stress smb; pummel; the small of the back; to keep lines at bay; to bring on the years; to tie smb in knots; to break up tension.