The nation's lust for life-coaching and psychobabble pursuits sprang from the collective desire to communicate thoughts and frustrations with neutral strangers.

Only the most isolated wish to share their life histories with a masseur.

The Savana Urban Spa is an oasis of calm amidst a plain of pretension.

Situated almost opposite Space NK (atomisers at dawn, anyone?), it's a chic, one-stop holistic well-being shop with a plentiful and varied menu that includes Hawaiian, Hydrothermic and the sensational Chavutti-Thai barefoot massage, all of which are performed by top notch therapists (owner Tania Mattock was voted Tatler's Best British Massage Therapist in 2005).

Neither is conviviality overlooked. Parties of 16 and under can book in for a day package with an organic lunch, and the two-person treatment room makes joint excursions user-friendlier (overbook your treatments on a spa jolly and you’ll usually not set eyes on your companions once).

But by far the most innovative offering is the option of requesting that your therapist remain silent throughout. Because, as we all know, unless you're looking for a 'happy ending', most of us have no desire to engage during downtime, and having to convey that's too often an ordeal in itself.