GO WITH THE FLOW

Belinda Mendoza, feng-shui consultant and interior designer, talks about achieving harmony.

By Mikaila Rushing, Photo by Riley Krauss 

Belinda Mendoza often has people question her work. As the owner of Design for Energy, an interior-design company, she uses classic feng-shui techniques as her guide. But for Mendoza, the proof of the existence of spatial energy is quite clear.

“Have you ever gone into a restaurant and found that it just didn’t feel right?” Mendoza says, “or one that felt perfect—peaceful and relaxing? That’s what we’re talking about.”

Mendoza began her career in social work after receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas. But she found it quite difficult to support herself in the field and eventually moved into pharmaceutical sales, an industry in which she thrived. Mendoza worked in sales for 17 years, but the more successful she got, the more pushback she found herself facing in the mainly male-dominated field.

“I found myself being the only woman and being kind of not really welcomed,” Mendoza recalls. “So, it motivated me to want to do something else.”

She says there were meetings she was not invited to and ideas of hers that were ignored and then stolen by others in the company for their own gain, and she felt as if her career were stagnating. It was during this time a friend recommended Mendoza to a feng-shui master in New York.

Feng shui is a Chinese philosophy that focuses on the idea that the way one places furniture in an environment and designs a space affect the energy in the room, therefore drawing varying experiences: misfortune, luck, prosperity, etc. The belief is that a person and his or her environment should always be in harmony. Feng shui has been reinterpreted throughout the years, and there are many different schools of ideology about the concept.

When Mendoza was first introduced to feng shui, she was very open to the school of thought. Not long after visiting the feng-shui master, she was offered a new position in sales, through which she was able to progress much quicker, travel more often and find more happiness in her lifestyle. Alas, she still found herself struggling against the prejudices of the industry, and began to consider learning more about the art that had originally helped revitalize her career.

“I said, ‘You know, this is such an interesting art. I’d love to learn more about it and help other people who have businesses or issues and help them succeed,’ ” Mendoza remembers.

After taking a few classes from the gentleman who had originally helped her redesign her own office, Mendoza was offered a chance to travel with him to China to learn more about classical feng-shui practices. There, Mendoza fell in love with feng shui.

After returning home, she reached out to 50 friends to put her newfound skills to the test. After proving successful, she quit her corporate job.

“I left in 2000 and I’ve never looked back,” Mendoza says.

She began Design for Energy, specializing in design with a classical feng-shui ideology. Her practice takes into account the orientation of a building, the building’s history and her clients’ intentions. Mendoza explains when an environment is changed, we begin to reflect what is in our environment and then attract that to us.

“The main reason people call is to have more harmony and balance in their life,” Mendoza says. “If they already have a lot of money, it’s to create a peace of mind and clarity. For people who are not at that level, they want more prosperity, more abundance.”

Mendoza works with many aspects of design. While a decent portion of her business does come from redesigning people’s personal homes and offices, an even larger part involves helping those at small and midsized businesses design their spaces. Mendoza is very dedicated to her clients, and is happy to share feng-shui techniques with anyone who might be wanting to make small adjustments to improve the energy flow of his or her space.

Belinda Mendoza’s Tips for Creating Harmony

1. Keep clutter off the floor. Items on the floor can disrupt the energy flow of a room. This can include clutter, unnecessary objects and even things stored under the bed. Keep the floor as clean and unobstructed as possible.
2. Keep the bathroom door closed. One of the beliefs within feng shui is that having a toilet visible from places of work, such as in a personal office, can symbolize profits going down the drain. Mendoza advises that if you can’t do anything to move your bathroom, to keep the door closed.
3. Don’t keep electronics near your bed. If you are experiencing insomnia, Mendoza advises cutting down on the amount of electronics you keep in the bedroom. Try leaving your phone on the dresser instead of under your pillow.
4. Make your art match your intentions. Mendoza says if you’re looking for positive energy in your life, the art you surround yourself with should reflect that.

View the original article here: http://atxwoman.com/go-with-the-flow/