Meet Mary

Mary Tsekoura is the person behind Pilates Med.

Helping women 40+ move better, feel stronger, and understand what their body is going through.

CPT | Clinical Pilates Teacher | OncoVie® Cancer Exercise Specialist | Menopause Coach | Pelvic Floor Health | Bioflex Laser Therapist 

Mary's path into movement didn't start in a studio. It started with her own body, asking for help.

She grew up loving classical dance. After school she studied fashion design and costume history — which she truly adored. But after having her two wonderful sons and going through a divorce, her body began to struggle. Postnatal changes, two lumbar disc herniation, and scoliosis she had carried since childhood pushed her to find healing through movement. She discovered Pilates as a precise, intelligent way to re-educate her spine and finally found relief.

She decided to change her professional path entirely. She got certified as a personal trainer, built her foundation in anatomy and biomechanics, and trained in Mat Pilates and yoga. Over the years she worked across several Pilates studios in Athens, specializing in tailoring programs to the unique needs of each client — adults managing muscle imbalances, joint dysfunction, injuries, and postural challenges. Volunteering in academic research, exploring the connection between the neuromuscular system and the body's core muscles, deepened her understanding of functional movement and rehabilitation.

It was through Anthony Lett, director of BASI Pilates, that she first felt the depth of what this method could truly be. Mentored by Rael Isacowitz and shaped by the legacy of elder Kathy Grant, he opened a door she never stopped walking through. She immersed herself in the different schools of the method, always drawn to the teachers who had studied directly under Joseph Pilates — the Pilates elders — searching for the original method, Contrology, as the true foundation of her teaching.

Then she met Michael King — and that changed everything. His ability to bridge classical Pilates principles with modern movement science opened her eyes completely. She trained at MK Pilates, had the honour of working alongside the team before completing her full training, and fell completely in love with this work. Her goal became clear: to meet each person exactly where their body is. A few years later she opened her own Pilates equipment studio in Athens — a space built on everything she had learned and lived.

Then life moved her to Canada to be with her husband — a personal trainer and gym owner. New country, new language, a pandemic, -25°C winters — and her own body going through perimenopause, with constant pain and two frozen shoulders. Instead of waiting for things to get better, she kept studying and working with her own body, trying to truly understand what was happening from the inside. Her husband treated her frozen shoulders with Bioflex laser therapy, and what she experienced as a patient moved her deeply. This non-invasive approach to healing — working through photobiomodulation to support recovery from within — inspired her to get certified herself.

Mary also completed training in menopause coaching and deepened her knowledge in clinical Pilates and pelvic floor health, while continuing to teach online and one to one from her home-based Pilates studio in Montreal. It was during this time that she had the privilege of meeting Lolita San Miguel — one of the last living first-generation Pilates teachers. A moment she will never forget.

When cancer entered her life — through a close friend diagnosed with breast cancer, and not long after, her father with lung cancer — she knew she needed to go deeper.   She trained with the Cancer Exercise Training Institute (CETI) under Andrea Leonard and is a Specialist in Exercise & Rehabilitation, supporting people through surgical recovery and a return to functional movement. She completed her studies just after losing her father — and dedicated that certification to him.

"Everything I teach, I have lived — the pain, the reinvention, the starting over. That's not a story I tell to connect with you. It's just the truth."

Today Mary teaches online and one to one sessions from Nova Scotia, tailored to each individual — focusing on posture, alignment, strength, flexibility, and body awareness, always with vitality and a healthy way of living as the goal.

She finds inspiration in art, the ocean, and nature — where movement, creativity, and well-being meet in harmony. Mary hopes to bring this work back to Greece, to reunite with her family and friends, feel the sun again, and continue this journey with the women who have been with her from the very beginning.

"You are not alone in this.

And you don't have to figure it out alone."

Thank you for reading my story .

— Mary