GOING round in circles could be the key to a contented life with the guidance of a Kidderminster woman.

Kathi Burrell is leading the way in a revival of the 5,000-year-old therapeutic practice of labyrinth walking.

She already runs workshops in Stourbridge for anyone wanting to de-stress and she is now looking for somewhere in Kidderminster big enough to take her own hand-painted 12ft by 12ft portable labyrinth.

"There has been a revival of interest in ancient spiritual practices fairly recently, particularly in America, and I'm one of the first to try and get the message out in this country," said the energy field healer, from Chester Road South.

"I have known about labyrinths for some time but they are just now beginning to gather more interest."

Mrs Burrell said the earliest symbol was around 5,000 years old and they had been used over the centuries in churches as an aid to meditation and relaxation.

They have been found all over the world and are made of all kinds of materials, including some constructed from boulders in Sweden.

They come in all shapes and sizes, including tabletop versions, which can be traced with the finger.

They can be indoors or out and were often cut into turf on hills or village greens in the past.

"Labyrinths are not to be confused with mazes, which lead into dead ends," she said. "They are a continuous line and they exercise the right and left sides of your brain as you walk through them."

Her own design is based on the Cretan symbols made famous in the myth of the Minotaur, though there are a wide variety of others, including a well-known one on the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France.

The portable ones are available for workshops, exhibitions and schools and there are eight permanent patterns surviving in this country, the largest number in Europe. Mrs Burrell is running a coach trip to the biggest turf one, in Saffron Walden, Essex, on Tuesday, August 2.

She can be contacted at the Body Balance Health Centre in Stourbridge on 01384 442091.