I first met Anaïs Pierquet back in 2021 when I moved to Bali. At the time, and even now, we shared so much in common: a deep connection to spirituality, sensitivity, and intuition, a crystal healing formation we don’t practice much anymore, a love for surfing (even though I’m not a longboarder), a shared journey of moving abroad to rediscover ourselves, and, of course, a soft spot for cats. While we didn’t hang out often, we managed to stay connected. Whether through brief encounters or just passing each other in Canggu’s chaotic traffic, I had the privilege of watching Anaïs Pierquet grow and shape her mission.

Today, Anaïs Pierquet is recognized as one of the most remarkable longboarders in the world, but she is so much more than her achievements on the waves. She is a true warrior with a mission, someone who has learned to navigate life’s darkest moments with the same grace and flow she brings to her surfing. With her kind and humble spirit, Anaïs embraces life with a gentle smile, but her heart beats with the courage of an adventurer.

She is an inspiration to all who know her, a shining example of what it means to transform pain into purpose and to live life unapologetically aligned with one’s true self. This is my tribute to Anaïs Pierquet – a woman who rides not just the waves of the ocean, but the waves of life, with beauty, strength, and unwavering grace.

Today, the voice that is heard is from Anaïs Pierquet!

What motivated you to leave France and seek a life of freedom, peace, and nature in Bali? Share a bit about your life there and how this move has impacted your life.

My biggest motivation to leave the country I grew up in was that I never felt like I fit in. The contradictions between society and my values were so big that it was challenging to evolve in this environment. I tried, I guess, and I did the best I could. I went to Fashion and Art University in Geneva, got a job, and was doing side projects, but there was always something deeper calling from within. A voice telling me there must be something more than this, there must be another way to live because this just does not feel right.

I came to Bali in 2015 with my best friend just for a holiday. Moving to Bali was actually not premeditated at all, it seems like Bali had plans for us and we just followed and accepted it! After 3 weeks of holiday, we decided to come back 3 months later and to move here. For how long? I had absolutely no idea, and probably my family thought I was totally crazy. One thing was for sure, I had to go and find myself.

Bali saved my life just as much as surfing. I came here with the ruins of a broken heart, a broken past, seeking peace. I came to Bali to find who I truly am and today I can see that clearly. It has been a wild ride for sure. Adapting to a totally different culture, language, people, places, way of being and living is not easy every day. One step after another, Bali held me in its arms and magic and slowly over the past 10 years I felt more and more myself. Many ups and downs, many crazy experiences and lessons, and each of them had a purpose, to show me the way forward. I grew so much in the past 10 years probably more than in my entire 37 years of life!

To build a lifestyle of freedom, we must listen and follow our hearts without compromises. I had to believe that this was the way for me, and I’m glad I did. I started surfing, it was my daily therapy and still is until today. I met amazing and inspiring people, that I call my family, my community.

I found a life where I feel deeply connected to nature and others on a deeper level. Most importantly I found I reconnected with my true self. I allowed myself to speak about energy, to express what I feel on a deeper level, and to use my sharp intuition to understand and talk about the unseen.

Bali saved my life just as much as surfing. I came here with the ruins of a broken heart, a broken past, seeking peace. I came to Bali to find who I truly am and today I can see that clearly.

One of the toughest experiences in your life was the loss of your father in 2006. How did this tragic event influence your journey of self-discovery and personal growth?

Losing my father was the biggest emotional tsunami of my life and it changed everything. I didn’t know how to overcome this challenge, I simply told myself the only way is forward. When I experienced such a traumatic event, my brain couldn’t process the idea that my father had taken his own life. I still remember my mother calling me and saying “Your father committed suicide” in a very tragic voice, and my body reacted as if it was a joke.

Emotionally no one should ever hear these words together, it just does not make any sense.

I think that losing him has forced me to grow and understand how precious life is. We tend to take for granted the magic of life, which is all around us, and I needed to reconnect with that. Since his loss, I kept only one thing in mind “ If I can share my story and inspire others to feel better, then his death and daily pain won’t be for nothing “.

I embrace the idea that there must be a purpose behind all of this madness. I must make something out of what I learned out of everything I felt and outgrew. I must pass it on, so others might feel better too, just like me.

I was so tormented by my dad’s loss, deep within my soul, so I started therapy of course for support. Hypnose and any healing that would help me along the way. It is so important to get helped by professionals, to clean the layers of the pain within our hearts. Step by step, I healed a heart that was shattered into a million pieces.

Somehow today I am grateful for him, and even tho I miss him deeply every single day, I wouldn’t be here talking to you if I didn’t lose him. I owe my freedom to him and that’s why I left to Bali, to be able to honour his life. Somehow to live the life that he never allowed himself to live.

What were your biggest challenges while adapting to a new life in Bali? How did you overcome these obstacles?

For me, it was to find and create a strong group of expat friends. Over the years at the beginning, it wasn’t easy. I feel like the first 5 years I was still living like a tourist here trying to find my way. I was trying to grow new roots in this land that was kind enough to have me. The struggle was more emotional for me, to find my people, to know who to trust and how to stay strong with these people. After 10 years now I am lucky enough to call my community a family and I know that no matter what we are growing all together.

When we met in 2021, you were a crystal healer, and since then, you’ve incorporated sound healing into your practice. How has this additional knowledge helped you in your healing journey?

Yes, back in the day I learned crystal healing and then took 2 other sound healing courses in Bali. It has been so healing for me to take these courses as they showed me the way to this other side of things, the unseen, the energetic fields that I lost touch with in society. It’s so important for me to be connected to this part of myself. As a sensitive soul, I feel a lot, I sense and understand life and emotions deeply. The crystal healing course and sound healing helped me understand how to communicate what I feel on a deeper level, talking about energy and the intuitive world. It helped me feel understood, to feel less alone with what I see or know from the energies and emotions around me. I don’t practice much anymore today but all the knowledge I got remains something that I use in my personal life often.

Nowadays, you are a remarkable longboard surfer known worldwide. How did surfing enter your life, and how has it helped you overcome various challenges? Can you share some significant stories or moments where surfing was crucial to your healing and growth?

The first time I felt the feeling of surfing was actually in Hawaii on a trip with my mother. I lived in San Diego, back in 2008 to learn English for 6 months and at the end of my trip we went to Hawaii for a holiday. In Waikiki, I rented a longboard and I went out with my little lycra top. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing back then, I just went out and gave it a go and it was the most fun and gentle ride.

Waikiki’s waves are very small on the inside and I could just slide my way to the beach. After this experience I never surfer again until I arrived in Bali!

I started surfing consistently a year after moving to Bali and it has been such a beautiful healing journey. As I always say, surfing saved my life, and I don’t think I would have healed as much without it. When discovering Bali, I was amazed by the people carrying their boards on the motorbike. I thought it was so cool and I wanted to do the same. I took a lesson with a local friend and never stopped since. Back then I was experiencing real emotional difficulties, I was battling depression and surfing has been my daily therapy. Every morning and every night I would go surf. Sunrise and sunset and would never miss a date with the ocean. It was my way of life, and once you start, you can’t really stop! The feeling of freedom and openness that I get out there is not something you have found somewhere else. The ocean taught me patience, and resilience, to believe in my strength, and to trust that I can overcome any challenges.

The ocean taught me patience, and resilience, to believe in my strength, and to trust that I can overcome any challenges.

What’s your biggest inspiration about helping others reach their full potential? How do you channel this passion into your daily work?

I think that it all comes down to my pain and experience in life. I am a very sensitive being, I sense the pain in others and I know how it feels to be so lost that you can’t see any future for yourself or take good care of yourself. I craved the deep feeling of freedom, of peace, so much and my father did too. The death of my father is one of the main reasons why I wish to help or guide people today. To show them there is another way, that life is beautiful no matter what challenges you are going through. It is truly important for me that my sorrow and the loss of my dad don’t get lost in oblivion. It must have a purpose, and that is why I create the retreats today and aim to help others to realize they are not alone, and they can heal too.

How did the idea of creating surf retreats come about, and what are the main goals of these retreats? What kind of experiences do you hope to provide for participants?

I am always self-aware and sometimes a bit too much. I fear to express my values and beliefs even though I know it has helped people before. One day I took my courage and told myself to give it a go, to see if I had something interesting to say and if you would receive it and find it interesting. I created first a small 3-day surf retreat and it was absolutely amazing. To bring people together is my jam and it makes me so damn happy. I had more to share with others and I decided to go all in. The retreat is all about surfing and re-discovering yourself. We surf a lot, we eat, we rest, and we have the most fun. My goal is to show people that they have the power to decide for their life and that they are holding back because of their fears, and their beliefs too. I talk a lot about inner dialogue and mindset. Surfing and life are interconnected, we surf how we live and we live how we surf. Once we realize that the only thing blocking our life or our surfing journey is our mind and fears, we can unlock everything and truly start living with a spirit of freedom.

Can you talk about the surf community in Bali and how this community has supported you on your personal and professional journey?

I absolutely love being part of the surf community in Bali. For me it’s all about sharing the lineup with a good vibe, cheering on each other’s wave. I am all in when it comes to CHEEEHUUUUUU at my friends when I see them going down the line.

It’s important to feel part of a crew, to feel part of a friend group that motivates me to go surfing every day. I think it has truly changed my perception of how we are supposed to live together and not be separated. I feel more connected and loved.

Surfing and life are interconnected, we surf how we live and we live how we surf.

What mindfulness and mindset practices do you share with others? Can you give examples of how these practices have helped others feel more confident and aligned with themselves?

What I love to share is to bring awareness to the way you speak about yourself. It’s crazy how society made our minds into little evils that never support our being. We are very mean to ourselves and it is time to stop this madness. Mindset practices are all about being consistent and always coming back to the positive. Instead of telling yourself every day “ Oh I look so bad when I surf” or “I’m ugly” why can’t don’t we express kindness with positive affirmations instead “ I am learning on every wave in my surfing journey “ or “ I appreciate the way I look”

It’s quite simple actually but very difficult to apply in the long run! Are you aware of how many negative thoughts run through your mind every day? It’s millions!

It’s time to change the inner dialogue and the story you tell yourself!

At this stage of your life, what else would you like to conquer? Do you feel that you are “living the dream”?

Many things to achieve and conquer always! I am an endless seeker of evolution and creation! I think that with my background, and the state of being I am now yes, I am living the dream. Because the dream from the beginning was to make peace with my past, to feel free, to feel calm, without anxiety. There is always another dream to conquer ahead and that is the beauty of life. Life is not a perfect straight line, life is made of waves, ups and downs and we must learn to navigate them with flow and grace. My life is not perfect, because I surf every day and I still face many challenges. But the dream that I live is that now I know how to ride the waves of life without fear, I trust my ability and resilience to always move forward and that is my biggest achievement. The next step is to write a book about it all !!

What advice would you give to other women who are facing similar challenges to those you have faced and who are seeking a more fulfilling life aligned with their true selves?

Always follow the intuition and the call within. It is challenging to go against society and to follow your voice but we must push through and trust that there is something greater out there because there is! We are magical beings and we are so damn powerful. It’s time to find this power back and claim it! Get some help, find the people who support you along the way and keep moving forward, one step at a time. Nothing else matters in life than feeling alive and at peace within. You deserve it!

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