Johanna Davis
Johanna Davis created Spirit of the North in the heart of Copper Harbor, Michigan to help you feel your best, be your best, and live your best life.
Johanna is an experienced licensed massage therapist, EMT, and internationally certified Holy Fire 3 and Karuna Reiki Master who has served Copper Harbor for over 20 years. Her expertise across massage techniques like rehabilitative, deep tissue, Swedish, sports and therapeutic massage techniques, energy work like reiki, sound healing and other modalities, plus nutrition and herbalism enables her to serve the best experience for your needs.
Johanna’s passion is to understand and harmonize the best of Eastern and Western health so that we can be happy, healthy, and well.
* Holy Fire® and Karuna Reiki® are registered service marks of William Lee Rand.
Johanna’s Story…
“Local girl, local roots…returns with a passion for the best of what eastern and western wellness can do for you.”
Johanna grew up in Copper Harbor, but she gained experience from other parts of the country and world before returning with her passions and career. She lives and works there in a cordwood space she helped build with her own hands that’s as elegant in rugged simplicity and natural beauty as its surroundings. She’s the third generation of her family to call Copper Harbor home. Her grandparents fell in love with Copper Harbor in 1955. Her parents bought the historic Minnetonka Resort from them in 1972.
“Local girl with local roots carries on family tradition in unique small town with awe-inspiring beauty.” Sure, that sweet, simple summary holds a truth. But it hides so much more. Johanna dreamt of bringing something back to Copper Harbor. So, she took the long way around to come back home.
Johanna’s journey led her across the country to bring her combined experiences, training, energy and intention to Copper Harbor to create Spirit of the North Wellness Center—equal parts local magic, wisdoms of the western and eastern worlds, and Johanna’s singular spirit, grit and grace.
So, yes: “local girl with local roots”—traveller, expert massage therapist, Reiki Master—That local girl? She has broken the mold and she’s packing an abundance of restorative, healing energy to share with all who pass through her door at Spirit of the North.
Johanna was born in Wausau, Wisconsin.
In 1955, her grandparents took over the Minnetonka Resort and brought together its many cottages, hotel rooms plus Astor House Motel, Thunderbird Gift Center and Historical Museum to establish its full and current form. Years before, they had vacationed there and fell in love with Copper Harbor—As you do. So perhaps it was inevitable when in 1972 Johanna’s parents bought the Minnetonka Resort and established themselves in Copper Harbor with their young daughter.
Almost as soon as she could walk and talk, Johanna began working in the family business—learning the art and practice of hospitality and helping people experience Copper Harbor as the wonderful place it is.
Being a precocious child with full access to a central way-station for visitors, friends and families alike had another benefit—built-in access to more kids to play with! Of course, most of these kids were out-of-towners who left when their family vacation was over. But they would come back.
Now, many of those kids come back as adults with their own families and friends. They’re drawn to Copper Harbor’s many unique gifts, to the hospitality of the Minnetonka Resort and to the healing energy Johanna planted in Spirit of the North at its heart.
Johanna always wanted to bring something back to Copper Harbor. To do that, she’d have to go somewhere and find something. So she did.
With a little tailwind from her snowbird-parents home-away-from-home in Florida, Johanna flew south and brought her hands-on hospitality training.
The more Johanna learned about the business and practice of hospitality the more she tuned-in to how to serve people’s needs more effectively. And the more she wanted to deepen her understanding and explore how she could do more to elevate and enhance energy—not just in a room or building or for an event, but to really help people in body, mind, heart and soul.
This led Johanna to Colorado. At the Academy of Natural Therapy, she studied different types of massage therapy—including deep tissue, prenatal, reflexology, nutrition, and reiki. Her work shifted towards integrated health and personal wellness. While studying, she interned with hospice at UC Health Greeley Hospital. Upon graduating, Johanna did an internship through HealthSouth and the Orthopaedic & Spine Center of the Rockies in Fort Collins.
To say it went well would be an understatement. Johanna took over as the massage specialist when the proprietor retired. Her focus was pre- and post-surgery massage therapy and rehabilitation massage.
The more in harmony you are with the flow of your own existence, the more magical life becomes. — Adyashanti
Spurred in part by her father’s failing health and a desire to help at the resort, Johanna returned to Copper Harbor in 2002. In retrospect, it’s also clear the time had come for Johanna to carry her dream forward and full circle.
She envisioned a building—a place and a space—encompassing an amenity to the community to promote wellness. She was ready to bring her experience and expertise in hospitality, massage and healing, her spirit and desire to help people, together with the natural spirit, power and attractive energy of Copper Harbor.
In 2003, planning began for the physical shape Johanna envisioned. Construction of Spirit of the North began in 2004. It takes more than a village to raise a child, it certainly did to give life to such an ambitious dream. The materials were all sourced from the Keweenaw Peninsula. Even the cordwood construction technique built upon the shoulders of ancient giants, wise and crafty.
Today, Johanna operates Spirit of the North and manages The Minnetonka Resort & Thunderbird Gift Center in Copper Harbor from May through the end of October.
Johanna is continually driven by the people she meets and serves. She’s ever expanding her skills, techniques and depth of understanding—how tending to the body helps the mind, how serving the spirit empowers the body, and how awesome is the energy that’s created, amplified and shared when people come together.
