You get roughed up in wrestling, but no one expects to be seriously injured. The attitude is I’ll ice up. I’ll be back. No amount of ice was going to heal my back that time, though. I had ruptured two discs. Three doctors told me my career was over, and I was devastated.

I had started wrestling at the late age of 35 and beat some incredible odds to make it big at 40. Through a combination of naive optimism, persistence and a lot of luck, I became a main event star. I was on top of the world. When I got hurt, I was faced with a decision: Accept the hand I was dealt or do something that seemed totally unappealing.

“You really need to try yoga,” my then-wife kept saying each morning after her workouts. That’s for sissies kept going through my mind. But I sat on the couch every day, more and more depressed. Did I have anything to lose by giving it a try?

I swallowed my pride and started slowly. I used a chair for balance, to help me get up and down and build strength. I did easy flexing and knee bends, and then simple yoga moves. Within the first week, I noticed a huge difference. As I got stronger, I made the workout my own.

Three months later, I was back in the ring. I became the WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and in 2017 I was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Yoga taught me to slow down and let go of stress. It’s made me stronger physically and mentally.

Anyone can do yoga, but it’s great for ages 50 and up. It’s zero to low joint impact, and it works the whole body. If you can’t get out of bed, you start the workout there.

The decision to try yoga pushed me outside my comfort zone, and that made all the difference. Today I give people hope that you’re never too old to change your life. I even built a brand of yoga for people who thought they’d never be caught dead doing it—because sometimes the things you resist are exactly what you need. —As told to Cathy Free