Samadhi: Integrated Attention and Behavioral Commitment

Samadhi, the eighth and culminating limb of yoga, represents profound integration where attention, intention, and action align seamlessly without internal resistance or distraction. While often described as meditative absorption, samadhi operationally describes the state of committed action where you're fully present with your values and behavioral choices. In CBT terms, this is the opposite of avoidance-driven behavior or action taken while internally fighting the task. When you practice exposure therapy while ruminating about how unfair it is, you lack samadhi. When you approach feared situations with full acceptance and commitment to your values, you access samadhi. This state accelerates behavioral extinction because emotions follow committed action rather than preceding it; you feel less anxious as a result of brave action, not before it. Patanjali teaches that samadhi develops through consistent practice (abhyasa) with non-attachment (vairagya)—exactly the prescription for sustainable CBT behavioral change. The integrated attention of samadhi prevents the internal split where you perform exposures or behavioral experiments mechanically while your mind rebels. Full psychological commitment, aligned with values, transforms CBT from duty-bound compliance into purposeful transformation.