Samadhi and the Dissolution of Fragmented Self

Samadhi—the final limb, a state of non-dual awareness and unified consciousness—represents the end goal of yoga: the dissolution of subject-object duality and fragmentation. Complex trauma fractures the self through dissociation, parts-work, and identity fragmentation. While immediate recovery focuses on stabilization and symptom reduction, Patanjali's vision of samadhi provides a long-term orientation toward wholeness, not merely symptom absence. The practices that lead to samadhi—meditation, mantra, and contemplation—create conditions for the fragmented parts of consciousness to recognize their essential unity. This is not regression or forcing integration but allowing it through refined awareness. For C-PTSD survivors, samadhi represents the possibility that the fractured psyche can eventually recognize itself as a unified field of consciousness, where trauma no longer creates permanent splits but is integrated as lived experience within a coherent sense of self.