By the time I lay down and closed my eyes, I realised that the room was filled with the scent of Kalmar’s Calm products (notes of lavender, iris, violet, vetiver and frankincense). I wasn’t sure what to expect from a treatment aimed at my digestive system and actually braced myself for de Hora’s fists to ram into my stomach. But it was nothing like that.

Instead, she focused on shifting my energy with gentle massage strokes and , focusing on my stomach area and, to my surprise, my feet. “Our feet are linked to everything,” she explained while rubbing specific reflex points. Suddenly my stomach began to gently rumble, as if there was a shift happening inside.

De Hora repeated the stomach and foot rubbing technique a few times, my stomach getting louder and louder with every round. It didn’t feel uncomfortable. In fact, it felt oddly freeing. My stomach felt empty (not in a I’m-so-hungry-I-need-a-Nando’s-kind-of-way), more that it just felt lighter. And that’s when I realised it was because I just wasn’t bloated anymore.

By the time I got off the treatment bed, down the London Underground and sat on a train (all of which I usually find very stressful), I realised that my mind also felt a lot clearer. It has long been reported that there’s a connection between your gut and brain, and this treatment left both feeling like they were (finally) working together harmoniously.

The Kalmar pop-up at Akasha Spa will be open until 18 December, with treatments taking place every Wednesday from 11am to 7.30pm. The 60-minute Calm treatment costs £180. Book in here.

“Can a massage really improve your digestion? I put it to the test…”