Proud Yorta-Yorta woman, Allira Potter, 31, is ‘Wild & Witchy’ this International Women’s Day (IWD) aiming to use her platform to send decolonising shock waves into the spiritual wellness space.
A life coach and energy healer, Allira felt compelled to turn her unique understanding of the world into writing a self-help book, Wild & Witchy, to help and empower other women to live freely and truly be themselves.
“My favourite section is the self-love section. It’s engrained in everything I do. Women don’t need to chop and change anything about their bodies, and I want to help them realise that,” Allira says.
She uses her lived experience as a First Nations woman to lift up other women so they can break through the glass ceiling and feel empowered in their femininity. This year, she’s choosing to do that by putting her energy into CARE Australia’s ‘Her Circle’campaign.
“I set the intention this year of wanting to work with more organisations that are aligned with me, like empowering women, and issues around women in poverty. When CARE Australia approached me about being involved in their Her Circlecampaign, it was the universe saying we needed to work together,” Allira says.
“Once one woman does one thing, it inspires another woman, whatever context that’s in.”
Working as a spiritual mindset manifestation coach, Allira guides women to step into their intuition, and live their lives as abundantly as she does. However, she is quick to recognise that some women are not quite privileged enough to follow her lead.
“Other women aren’t as privileged as me, and I’m always thinking about how I can do better and empower them, which is why I wanted to work with CARE,” she says.
Along with her successful social media career, Allira delved into the world of Reiki a couple of years ago, which has become an integral part of her skillset.
“It helps shift any energy you’re holding onto, whether that be physical or emotional, and a session with me is pretty special,” she smiles.
“Energy can be stored in your body, whether that be from childhood trauma or an abusive relationship; clients come to me for a reason. We have to remove the bad energy to make space for the new energy to come on in.”
Smiling, Allira suggests that IWD should be every day, but her lightheartedness shifts when she explains how far First Nations women have progressed.
“It’s really important at the moment for me to acknowledge how far First Nations women have come, and International Women’s Day is a nice way to also recognise other cultures and women across the world who have come so far,” says Allira.
“I think the Day is a good opportunity to have a conversation with white women who need to know the privilege they have and uphold. They’re one step ahead of me, as a person of colour (POC), and can walk down the street pretty okay in life, where as POC and women from less privileged backgrounds can’t.”
Allira’s lasting message for privileged women on IWD is to acknowledge the power they hold in society and help the less fortunate women around them.
“The message we should put out there is that we, as women, need to do better, and be better. We should be joining together to help the less fortunate among us and help and empower the less privileged,” says Allira.
Within her journey as a spiritual coach, Allira recognises her experience working in that space has been that it isn’t always a welcoming place.
“It’s important to create that conversation with white people who are appropriating other cultures and their rituals …”
“I’m a First Nations woman, and I’m inherently proud of that, but the wellness space I’m in is not diverse or inclusive and doesn’t acknowledge other cultures,” she says.
“It’s important to create that conversation with white people who are appropriating other cultures and their rituals, like recognising that yoga comes from India and to stop colonising sacred Indigenous practices, including white sage and palo santo (‘holy wood’).”
To any young woman, particularly First Nations women, Allira’s message for IWD 2022 is to hold your head up high.
“Keep going. To anyone looking at me to be inspired, keep going. You’re already breaking down intergenerational barriers as it is,” she smiles.
CARE Australia’s Her Circle campaign
CARE Australia Head of Engagement, Hayley Conway, is thrilled to be sharing stories of women changemakers through the Her Circle campaign to help fight poverty and gender inequality.
“Around the world, the evidence shows that when women earn an income, they invest it into the health and education of their families. When a woman is empowered with the tools and opportunities to lift herself out of poverty, she uplifts her family and her community, too,” Hayley says.
“When a women’s voice is listened to, she speaks not just for herself, but for those around her. Our passionate and experienced ambassadors will help spread these important messages to Australians so we can work together to tackle global poverty.”
Joining the ranks of Her Circlealongside Allira are lawyer, human rights advocate and media commentator, Nyadol Nyuon, and writer and activist, Ashleigh Streeter-Jones.
These three powerful and diverse women are uniting to create a ‘circle’ of ambassadors to grow awareness of changemaking women, and how lifting yourself up inherently brings other women with you.
To learn more about the Her Circle campaign, visit care.org.au/her-circle.
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
