Mangaluru : Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim said on Tuesday that care should be taken to prevent misuse of yoga as it is gaining popularity across the world.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a four-day international workshop on yoga therapy on the Mangalore University campus, he said that yoga had tremendous potential to create employment opportunities and business. Yoga should be promoted for ensuring better health for all, he said.

K. Byrappa, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said that yoga helped in controlling aggressiveness and reducing tension. Practice of yoga indicated that Indians knew stress management since ages. “In principle, yoga should not be commercialised,” he said.

In all, 20 persons from South Korea are participating in the workshop.

Later, speaking to presspersons, the Vice-Chancellor said that the university, through its Department of Human Consciousness and Yogic Sciences, had submitted a proposal to the AYUSH Department for funds.

The project related to conducting research on reducing severity of AIDS among the affected persons through yoga. The project was awaiting approval, he said.

The university would also conduct workshops with yoga practitioners in Canada and Europe on its campus in the coming days, he said and added that an internationalhouse would be built to accommodate foreign students and guests in the campus.