Llona Geiger is perpetually in motion. Born near Stuttgart, Germany during the war, she spent the first two years of her life in a bomb shelter. She hasn’t let anything restrict her since!
She spent her childhood reading books on faraway places, inspiring her to dream of traveling the world someday. “I made a vow to dip my toe in ever ocean and place my foot on every continent”, she says.
Llona has been on safari in Tanzania and age 59, she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. She ran 8 miles a day to train for that arduous summit.
Llona met her husband, Joe, when she was a university student in Germany. Joe was an American soldier and they met during a study group. They married and moved to Joe’s hometown of Dade City, FL where they both taught at Saint Leo College. They had two children, Norman and Kaarla.
While working for United Faculty of Florida, training and problem-solving, Llona was appointed as Executive Director, forcing her to move to Tallahassee. During her career, she always made time for exercise to decompress and release stress.
After retirement, she studied to become a group fitness instructor. Then she pursued a certification as a personal trainer. That led to her interest in focusing on instructing older adults with the intention of motivating them to move safely and work around injuries and surgeries. Working with seniors inspired her to research longevity and the effects of endorphins on the body and brain.
Llona’s motto is motion is lotion and movement is medicine. “Moving your body lubricates and oxygenates the tissue and releases ‘feel good’ chemicals.”
Llona teaches six classes a week for the Tallahassee Senior Center. Her participants adore her for her knowledge, encouragement, and dark chocolate treats she gives out on Fridays.
She peppers them with “horror stories,” she winks, or rather, cautionary tales. One such true story was about a woman who got a double knee replacement, then was in so much pain she couldn’t tolerate physical therapy, and is now confined to a wheelchair. “Do one knee at a time!” she exclaims.
Llona’s advice to those younger than 50 is to “respect yourself and others. And find a task you enjoy – that can help you overcome anything.”
In her spare time, she enjoys her two dogs, Sieger, a 10-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer and Chancy, a Pit bull Terrier/Great Pyrenees puppy. Chancy recently took second place at a local Barn Hunt trial.
