Dr. Laura Dudley directs the Mindfulness Studies program at Northeastern, which includes an undergraduate minor and many individual course offerings that focus on the science and spirituality behind mindfulness and mindfulness practices. In addition to serving as Associate Clinical Professor and Associate Chair of the Applied Psychology department in BouvĂ© College of Health Sciences, Laura is a registered yoga teacher (RYT 200) and meditation instructor trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She is a Mindfulness Fellow and Yoga Affiliate with the Center for Spirituality, Service and Dialogue on Boston’s campus. She leads weekly meditations in the Sacred Space that include breathwork (pranayama), calm-abiding (Shamata) meditation, body scan, and loving kindness (Metta) meditation. Laura also periodically leads community-wide yoga sessions virtually on Northeastern’s Facebook page and in person as part of special events on campus such as Mental Health Awareness Week.
Laura’s research currently focuses on the application of behavioral science to measure and treat physiological symptoms of stress and anxiety. She speaks at national conferences on topics focusing on the application of behavioral science to human behavior, and her analysis on the impact of the pandemic and Zoom Fatigue has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, The Boston Globe and other news outlets.
Laura first discovered yoga over 20 years ago when she was fresh out of college and working in a high-stress job. She was searching for practices that would build resilience, improve stress, and provide an opportunity to exercise, and she found that and more when she discovered yoga. Over the years, Laura has deepened her knowledge of Ashtanga, Hatha, Vinyasa, and Hot Yoga. She teaches a weekly vinyasa yoga class at a local studio and periodically leads community-wide yoga sessions virtually on Northeastern’s Facebook page and in person as part of special events on campus such as Mental Health Awareness Week.