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On the move
Boston Body owner Zayna Gold finds success and serenity with Pilates
BY TAMARA WIEDER

MADONNA DOES IT. Uma Thurman does it. Courteney Cox does it. Rumor even has it that David Letterman does it. But long before the celebrities caught on, Zayna Gold was doing Pilates — and loving it.

She loved the body-conditioning exercise so much, in fact, that she parlayed it — along with more traditional fitness methods like cardio and yoga — into a thriving business. In 1989, Gold launched Boston Body in a small studio on Newbury Street. She’s since closed that location but has opened three others: a two-floor, full-fitness facility on Boylston Street in Boston; a Pilates studio in Newton Highlands; and, most recently, a Pilates, yoga, and healing-arts studio in Newtonville.

Q: Why fitness — how did you end up on this path?

A: I feel like such a weirdo saying it, but when I was in high school, I would take the audio tapes — you know, there weren’t videotapes then, so the records or whatever — I used to have all these different fitness-exercise-, dance-exercise-type things, and literally I would do them in my bedroom. There was no aerobics movement, there was no anything. I was, like, obsessed. It was so bizarre. And I was so into it; I used to read everything I could get my hands on, anything to do with movement or the beauty of dance. I was just so interested in it.

Q: Was your family into exercise?

A: No. In no way at all. My family is like typical Jewish intellectuals who are like, this [head] is completely separate from this [body]. So I don’t know where I got this. I really have no idea. I mean, I took ballet when I was a kid, and then in college I got my hands on Joseph Pilates’s books, his book of the 10 basic exercises, and I literally did them myself every day. And I was just so into it. I used to help my friends with exercises; a friend of mine who was a martial artist, I was teaching him Pilates when I was, like, 19 years old. I took a lot of dance, but I was never a good dancer; I was one of the klutzes in class. I started taking a lot of Pilates at that point from a real good teacher. I took, like, three hours of dance a day for a long time, but it was more just that I liked it. I would never have thought that I would go into anything exercise- or movement-related. And then it was about five years after college, probably, and I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, and someone said, "You know, you’re always moving around and exercising and doing martial arts or dancing and you always sound so excited; why don’t you do something like that?" And that’s how I started doing this. I did private training in people’s homes, and I taught classes. I just had tons and tons of clients, and then I opened up Boston Body.

Q: Why?

A: I always felt like, even though I might’ve looked like I was in great shape, and I always have looked really graceful and all that kind of stuff, it’s always been hard for me. It’s never come easy for me; my thighs were never perfect, that kind of thing. And I really wanted a place where people could come and work their butts off and feel really accepted. It sounds like such a clichŽ or so corny, but I just felt like the places I taught in, they were either for people really out of shape, or they were for people who were in great shape, but there was almost like, I don’t know, like a competitiveness. And what I find in Boston Body, it’s unbelievable how nice everybody is. You’ll have somebody who’s older and out of shape next to someone who looks amazing, and they’re smiling and talking. I really think it’s an empowering way to work your body, because you feel accepted, and you can work at your own tempo.

Q: What are the challenges of running this business?

A: Oh, everything! Being a mom and doing it is so difficult. [My sons] are 13 and 15. So that’s been really, really hard. I opened my business right when my kids were really little. It’s been really hard because I’m a very hands-on mom, so it’s always, like, that feeling of the balance. And I was a single mother for years of that, so I was doing everything on my own, and that was really hard. But now it’s fun.

Q: What exactly are the "healing arts"?

A: I have really bad colitis and the drugs don’t help me ... I have been going to acupuncture for my colitis for about three years. I decided to try acupuncture, which is a healing art, instead [of surgery]. When I went to acupuncture, I believed that it wouldn’t help me. But a friend of mine told me to death, and I just didn’t want her to bitch at me anymore. So I figured, I’ll try it and shut her up. And all of a sudden I was able to reduce my medication. I haven’t been on medication for almost three years. I do it twice a week. If I start doing once a week, my colitis, within about two weeks, starts spiraling out of control. Really, I don’t believe in it, as a scientific Westerner. But I know it’s working, because my body tells me it is. So I really have a strong belief, personally, in the healing arts.

I brought the Thai massage in [to Boston Body] because I believe that so many of people’s physical, emotional, spiritual ailments have to do with, you know, their energy is blocked, and they don’t take the time to take care of themselves. So I wanted to make sure that, along with the physical and wanting to look good, that it would be a spiritual place as well, because I think that’s crucial to any kind of physical health and beauty. I am actually so excited about the direction that I’ve taken Boston Body right now, because I just wanted to incorporate all the things that have helped me in my life, and kind of share that, and be around people who are motivated to do the same kind of, you know, self-awakening or whatever you want to call it, that I was. And also look good.

Q: How would you explain Pilates to someone who’s never heard of it?

A: Well, it’s strengthening your muscles, and at the same time incorporating stretching throughout each exercise, and learning how to work your body in a very strong way where there’s no impact on your joints. So it’s a series of very choreographed exercises from Joseph Pilates, where your trainer is looking at your body, and telling you what you need to do with your unique body in order to do the exercises properly. It’s a way of hearing what your body is saying to you and feeling your body each step of the way.

Q: Why do you think it caught on in Hollywood?

A: Because it really makes you look different. It really does. It’s always been really popular in the dance world. It was always kind of a subculture, either people who had a lot of money or the dance world, so it almost felt like this little cliquey club. I think it just makes people look so different that that’s why it caught on. And anyone can do it.

Q: How does it compare to power yoga, which is also very trendy now?

A: Power yoga is like, boom, boom, boom — you’re moving, you’re sweating. Well, Pilates, on an advanced level, is just as hard as something like power yoga, but it’s just very serene. Different personality types are going to go for different styles.

Q: What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the fitness market since you’ve been doing this?

A: Women were just so prissy. Just the idea of even being strong was so foreign. Now we’re doing the things that I started out loving, but with strength. That’s one of the things about my approach to Pilates that’s actually different than the traditional one: I really believe in women being strong. I firmly believe that if a woman doesn’t work for strength, she can’t change her body. Especially as we get older — like, you can’t have great arms unless you’re strong. And I just think psychologically, women should be strong. So I really work toward that. So if some woman who’s 60 or 70 comes to me, I say to her, "If you want to come here and have me just have you breathe for an hour, I can give you to one of my other trainers. That’s not me; I’m going to make you strong." And women love it. I’ve never had one person look at me without saying, "Oh, that sounds great!"

Q: So many gyms are opening up everywhere, but Americans are getting fatter. What’s your theory on what we’re doing wrong?

A: I think first of all we’re all working too much. Fast food. None of us have time to cook, none of us have time for that old-fashioned, sit-down-to-dinner. We’re grabbing breakfast bars. So I think that’s some of it, all the processed food. And I think along with working too hard, we’re all so disconnected with the amount of stress that we’re putting ourselves under. And you know, everything’s done for us; like, instead of walking somewhere, you hop in your car. Electric can openers ... whatever the electronics are that we all use. Remote-control windows.

Q: What’s your favorite exercise?

A: My favorite exercises are any that I feel like I can’t do perfectly. Because I really like to push myself. That’s just my personality. And, up until three or four years ago, those were my least favorite.

Q: What about least favorite?

A: My least-favorite exercises are anything where I’m not pushing myself. I hate, I hate, I hate exercises that are not full-out.

Q: Have you ever watched a Richard Simmons video?

A: I have to say, I love Richard Simmons! Do you know why? Because I swear to God, I’ve never been fat in my life, I’ve always done well in my life, but I feel like inside me there’s just this obese loser or something. I don’t know how to say it, but I’ve always felt like, even though I’ve never been there, I’ve always felt that expression, "[There] but for the grace of God go I." I cry when I watch Richard Simmons. I love Richard Simmons. I love him because to me there’s nothing more beautiful in life than unconditional love and acceptance, and to me, that is the most healing thing in this world, and he is a truly accepting person, of himself and others. To me there can be nothing more beautiful than that.

Boston Body is located at 364 Boylston Street, in Boston; 1183 Walnut Street, in Newton Highlands; and 46 Austin Street, in Newtonville. Call (617) 262-3333. Tamara Wieder can be reached at twieder[a]phx.com

Issue Date: July 18 - 25, 2002
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