Spa spy Oasis of calm

Krista at Knotstressed will help you leave the hustle and bustle of the Festival at the door

The treatment

This two hour full body massage fusion blends techniques from round the world, and includes a head, face, hands and feet massage, all for £75 (saving £5). Can be adapted for pregnancy/postnatal). Available until the end of August.

Why go?

You want to escape the crowds and roasting hot venues in Edinburgh. This place, at Abbeyhill, is central enough that you can use it as a recharging pit stop, before re-entering the fray in a mellow bubble.

Our spy says

I love that this place makes treatments seem more individual.

You don’t even have to fill out one of those annoying bog-standard forms, which probably end up in the bin most of the time (not that any therapist could read my writing).

Krista just chats to me, and takes notes.

She asks what I like in a massage (neck and shoulders, and lengthening techniques please). I tell her that I’m keen on medium to firm pressure, but she says that it should never be sore enough that you have to hold your breath, and I’m to tell her if I feel like that at any point.

Once I’m through the consultation antechamber and into the comfortable room, we kick off with me face down.

Using forearms and the heels of her hands on my tired old back, Krista uses languorous Slavic techniques, along with a thick, honey scented wax, which provides more grip and warmth than the usual oil, and makes the muscle softening feel deeper.

When it comes to my stiff neck and shoulders, she moves onto a bit of Swedish massage, using fingers and repetitive smoothing across my crinkly scapula and the tension lines of my neck. My arms are draped and lifted to the side, stretched and rubbed. Total surrender.

Same goes for the back of my legs, when Krista’s hands seem to be working totally independently yet in tandem, with one holding the back of my ankle, the other smoothing up my calf, or doing little pinching movements on my inner thighs. Ambidextrous.

Once I’ve turned onto my back, lying like a pinned frog in a science lab, the front of my legs are worked on, then my arms are unfurled and rubbed again.

There’s a head massage, which also involves some facial rubbing and pressing, which seems to instantly open my clogged and hayfever-y sinuses. My neck and shoulders are rubbed again, with my head moved to each side.

Finally, my feet are rubbed and stretched, with Krista employing her forearms again, and each toe is gently pulled. Where am I? Don’t make me leave.

The results

I’m sorry, but I think I’m going to spend my Edinburgh International Festival ticket fund on another of these treatments. n Edinburgh Festival Bliss with Krista at Knotstressed (40-42 Montrose Terrace, 07540 809 944, www.knotstressed.com).