The AYF Global is one of the working teams at Awaji Youth Federation. Its main activities are to organize events, workshops, and business competitions with the hope of creating a global community of changemakers around the world. AYF Global believes that equality of opportunity is dependent upon access to education, information, credit, and most importantly, the support of others who care. AYF Global is a place to find these things and establish new communities.

The AYF Global provides a platform in a form of a community designed to encourage freedom of thought and expression, allowing members to learn from, and encourage each other by challenging themselves to develop new skills and solutions to global problems in business and society. Through a wide variety of discussion forums, webinars, online showcases, and events, members will be encouraged and stimulated to think about the `new normal` and what that means for them and their communities.

Over the past several months, the AYF Global team has hosted a series of thought-provoking workshops that examined ideas of wellbeing from various perspectives. The workshops are also accompanied by business competitions. By attending the workshops, individuals or teams could pitch innovative ideas in the form of articles, presentations, or videos. The winners from each business competition will do a final presentation and the final winner will receive a great opportunity to implement the idea. 

Each workshop also has amazing speakers that are very knowledgeable about wellness. The speakers include Yuji Honmyo, a Shinto Priest of Izanagi Shrine, Myoku Sahashi, a Zen Master of Zenbo Seinei, Nupur Tewari an inner transformation coach & motivational speaker, Saurabh Nanda, an internationally recognized and awarded mentor and trainer, and many more.

The first of these was Reducing Food Waste. Food loss is a global crisis and finding solutions to this issue is imperative for achieving social wellbeing around the world. The speakers discussed and answered questions on food waste in Japan, case studies in Ghana and India, and some of the groundbreaking ideas being put forward to tackle this serious problem.

The second workshop, Your Feelings Are Valid, saw a fascinating discussion of spirituality and mental health from the perspectives of a Shinto priest, a Zen master, and an international youth mentor. Their unique philosophies offered attendees alternative ways of viewing and coping with the stresses of modern life.

The third and final workshop in the series, Train your Body and Mind, placed a strong emphasis on the inseparability of physical and mental wellbeing—in other words, that a healthy body equals a healthy mind. In this workshop, attendees were treated to a masterclass in yoga, meditation, and Japanese taiko, learning about both the physical and emotional benefits of each.

Each of the workshops was accompanied by a business challenge in which attendees were invited to submit their ideas for solving the issues raised in the discussions. The three winners, Jose Antezana, Team Emote (Gokul Patinharappat, Riddhi Bairagi, Divya Shukla, and Arul Mahindroo) and Chinyere Ikele will be receiving a goodie bag of prizes put together by the AYF Global team.