Introduction
This article analyzes Geeta Maker-Clark's concept of the nine medicines, shifting the focus from private wellness to systemic responsibility for health. It argues that well-being is not merely the result of lifestyle optimization, but rather an outcome of the relationship between the individual, their environment, and social structures.
The reader will discover how practices such as dance or gratitude can serve as acts of resistance against functionalism. The text exposes the trap of toxic positivity and posits that health should be recognized as a Common Good, requiring a just social architecture.
Dance as Embodied Cognition and Resistance to Functionalism
Dance is a form of medicine because it constitutes embodied cognition. Unlike ordinary physical activity, which often serves only to burn calories or improve performance, dance can be movement where the purpose is the movement itself.
It is an act of reclaiming freedom and a resistance to the logic of efficiency. It allows the body to cease being a tool for achieving goals and instead become a source of experience. An example of this is the practice of neuroplasticity, where rhythm synchronizes biology with culture.
Dance as Multidimensional Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation
In rehabilitation, dance is more compelling than standard exercises because it combines cardiovascular training with memory, emotion, and relationships. It requires the simultaneous memorization of sequences, spatial orientation, and attuning oneself to a partner.
Consequently, dance is not just an exercise, but a bundle of cognitive tasks. In the case of Parkinson's disease, this allows the patient to suspend their clinical identity. Instead of correcting a deficit as a patient, they become a participant in the music and a partner in the dance.
Dance as Reclaiming Bodily Sovereignty
Movement helps those who are ill regain a sense of control, shifting the status of the person from a "patient" (a noun) to someone who "dances" (a verb). Dance restores bodily sovereignty, understood as experiencing the organism as a source of action rather than an object to which things happen.
A shared rhythm builds bonds through interpersonal synchronization (entrainment), which increases the sense of intimacy. Simultaneously, such movement can be a tool of social control when power systems impose rigid discipline instead of freedom of expression.
Summary
True medicine is a synthesis of science and social justice. Health is not private property, but a map of our relationships with the world. Individual practices are valuable, but insufficient without systemic support.
Instead of teaching people how to maintain their balance on a crooked floor, we should work together to straighten it. Health as a Common Good begins where the solitary struggle for survival ends and the care for our shared home begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is dance treated as a form of medicine and how does it differ from ordinary physical activity?
Dance is treated as a form of medicine because it constitutes a practice of neuroplasticity and synchronization, allowing for the recovery of the body's primal freedom. Unlike ordinary physical activity, which often serves specific functional or efficiency goals, dance can be movement where the immediate goal is the movement itself.
Why is dance more effective or interesting in rehabilitation than standard physical exercises?
Dance combines physical training with cognitive, emotional, and social challenges, providing a package of tasks within a single activity. In the rehabilitation of people with Parkinson's disease, it allows them to perform demanding motor work as a partner and participant in music, rather than just a patient correcting deficits.
How do dance and movement help a sick person regain a sense of control over their own body and relationships with others?
Dance allows a sick person to regain bodily sovereignty by experiencing the body as a source of action, rather than merely an object to which something is happening. In relationships with others, synchronous movement in a group increases the sense of closeness and bonding and can influence pro-social attitudes.
How do shared rhythm and dance affect interpersonal relationships, and how are they utilized by power systems?
Shared, rhythmic movement can increase the sense of social bonding and closeness between people, even if they differ in their views. At the same time, this synchronization can be used by power systems to harden group boundaries or serve as a tool for body control through prohibitions and stigmatization.
How are movement and dance linked to memory and the political dimension of freedom?
Dance serves as a living archive and a form of cultural memory, transmitting history as well as ways of experiencing identity and hierarchy through the body. In a political dimension, the right to dance and unproductive joy constitutes an act of resistance against systems that subordinate humans solely to productivity or rigorous doctrines.
Do practices such as dance and gratitude need to have medical or psychological justification to be valuable for health?
No, practices such as dance and gratitude do not need to have medical or psychological justification to be valuable. Movement is a fundamental element of being human, and the benefits of these activities can extend beyond measurable health indicators, encompassing the sphere of expression and community.
Does practicing gratitude actually bring measurable health benefits?
Practicing gratitude is associated with better mental health and a lower intensity of anxiety and depression, although its effect is moderate and it should be treated as a supplement to treatment. Regarding physiology, there are reports of lowered cortisol levels or inflammatory markers, but this evidence is significantly weaker than in the case of subjective well-being.
What exactly is the practice of gratitude, and how does it affect our perception of ourselves in relation to the world?
The practice of gratitude is an operation of attention and interpretation that counteracts the cognitive dominance of a sense of lack by noticing what functions and what has been given. In relation to the world, it changes the perception of oneself from an autonomous unit to a person aware of their dependence on a network of conditions and processes that they did not produce themselves.
How do spiritual and philosophical practices help break the illusion of total individual independence?
These practices help one realize the impermanence of material goods and the fact that a human being is not a completely autonomous entity. For example, reflecting on intellectual and moral debts undermines the myth of the 'self-made man', showing that we become who we are thanks to the influence of other people.
Does practicing gratitude lead to passivity in the face of injustice and the acceptance of poor living conditions?
Gratitude can lead to passivity and the acceptance of poor living conditions only when it becomes a form of toxic positivity used to discipline dissatisfaction. Mature gratitude does not deny injustice nor castrate moral anger, but allows one to perceive what is valuable, which can become a point of reference for opposing that which destroys.
How does the practice of gratitude link individual health with the concept of the common good?
The practice of gratitude allows us to acknowledge that our lives depend on the goods and labor of other people, which links individual well-being with the concept of the Common Good. This leads to a departure from the myth of self-sufficiency in favor of a motivation to continue passing on goodness to people we may never meet.
Why is play treated as a biological and medical necessity, rather than just entertainment for children?
Play is a biological necessity for liberation and an antidote to rigidity, providing a space for creativity and a tool for maintaining joy even in suffering. It is a school of symbolization, improvisation, and the creation of alternative worlds, which provides competencies essential for culture, science, and innovation.
Is play important for the health and functioning of adults, or does it only concern children?
In the case of children, play is a key mechanism for socio-emotional, linguistic, and cognitive development. Regarding adults, data suggest that playfulness can be a valuable psychological resource, helping in stress reduction, building bonds, and improving overall well-being.
Why are play and humor important for mental health and the healing process, beyond the simple effect of mood improvement?
Play counteracts cognitive rigidity, developing creativity and flexibility through the temporary suspension of reality's constraints and the possibility of safe experimentation. Humor allows for a sudden shift in the interpretative frames of events, and in the context of treatment, play restores the patient's sense of agency and their role as a subject.
How do humor and play function in situations of collective trauma and social conflicts?
In situations of collective trauma and conflict, humor and play create a temporary emotional enclave that allows a person to stop being solely a victim and prevents violence from completely seizing the psyche. They do not constitute clinical therapy, but they enable the recovery of a sense of joy and can serve as a political tool, stripping power of its monopoly on defining one's own dignity.
Why are the ability to play and the acceptance of failure crucial for human mental health and innovativeness?
The ability to play normalizes error as a natural part of the process and trains cognitive courage, which is essential for innovation and creativity that requires many failed attempts. From a mental health perspective, play allows one to maintain psychological vitality and experience life in a non-instrumental dimension, beyond the sequence of obligations.
Why might healthy habits and personal regenerative practices be insufficient in the face of difficult living conditions?
This is because personal regenerative practices will not remove structural causes such as poverty, discrimination, violence, or chronic uncertainty. The body's health can be impaired by so-called weathering—the biological wear and tear resulting from long-term exposure to adverse socio-economic conditions and the need for permanent adaptation to stress.
How do social inequalities and a lack of systemic support affect human biology?
Social inequalities and a lack of support lead to a chronic burden on the body, which must perform the costly work of adapting to difficult living conditions. Long-term exposure to stress, threats, and limited access to resources can biologically differentiate people, accelerating the onset of health problems.
Why do people from poorer social groups fall ill more often, even if they demonstrate great resilience and determination in life?
People from poorer groups have limited access to rest and regeneration, as breaks in activity threaten their economic security. Additionally, chronic stress resulting from social inequalities and the constant struggle for survival lead to physiological wear and tear of the body, regardless of individual determination.
Why are recommendations for a healthy lifestyle alone insufficient, and under what conditions do they become absurd?
Recommendations alone are insufficient because health depends on social, economic, and spatial conditions that determine the real possibilities of implementing them. They become absurd in situations where the patient lacks the resources—such as time, money, or a safe environment—to be able to put them into practice.
Does health depend only on my decisions, or does the environment I live in have an influence?
Health depends both on individual decisions (e.g., physical activity or smoking) and on external factors such as living conditions, social status, and the environment. Responsibility is twofold: a person is responsible for the choices within their reach, while society is responsible for how wide that reach actually is.
Why are individual health practices insufficient, and what is the role of systemic solutions in maintaining population health?
Individual practices are insufficient because they do not eliminate the systemic causes of diseases, such as air pollution or permanent stress. Systemic solutions are essential to create the architecture of a healthy society and living conditions (e.g., in urban planning, transport, or housing) that reduce the frequency of events requiring medical intervention.
Does health depend only on medicine and lifestyle, or do political decisions also influence it?
Health depends not only on medicine and lifestyle but also on political decisions and social determinants. The state can influence health through labor law, ensuring safe infrastructure, access to healthy food, and countering the isolation of elderly people.
Why cannot taking care of health be solely a matter of individual choices and responsibility?
Health is an individual experience based on a collective infrastructure that an individual is unable to create on their own. Many conditions necessary for maintaining health, such as clean air, food safety, or infection control, are common goods and depend on structural and institutional factors.
How can one avoid the trap of totalitarian health management and the naivety of rejecting clinical medicine when implementing the concept of the Common Good?
The concept of the Common Good should be linked to human rights, autonomy, and the principle of subsidiarity, leaving a wide range of decisions to the individual. To avoid naivety, one must reject both scientism and anti-scientific romanticism, applying epistemic pluralism in which tradition is not immune to scientific evidence, and biomedicine is not the sole source of knowledge.
What is the relationship between individual health care and the systemic responsibility of the state and society?
Individual care and the systemic responsibility of the state complement each other, as institutions need a culture of care, and private support requires institutional frameworks. While personal care helps a specific individual, systemic responsibility consists of eliminating suffering resulting from social structures and ensuring universal access to basic needs.
What, in the final analysis, is true medicine and how should we understand health?
True medicine is a layered system that combines modern science and evidence-based therapy with ancestral wisdom, social relationships, and environmental care. In this view, health is understood as a fragile biological possibility, the chances of which are increased through knowledge, individual and community responsibility, and social justice.
