Vritti: Mental Fluctuations and Trauma Imprints

In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, vritti refers to the fluctuations and modifications of the mind—the endless stream of thoughts, sensations, and impressions that create our psychological experience. Trauma embeds itself as particularly sticky vritti, repetitive neural patterns that hijack attention and emotional regulation. EMDR works by facilitating bilateral stimulation while these vritti activate, allowing the nervous system to process and metabolize the traumatic imprint. By understanding trauma as locked vritti, we recognize that healing involves not suppressing these mental patterns but allowing them to naturally resolve through somatic processing. This aligns with Patanjali's ultimate goal: achieving citta vritti nirodha, the cessation of mind fluctuations, which is the state of freedom from reactive patterns. EMDR becomes a practical method for releasing the vritti that bind consciousness to past trauma.