The Abyssinian Baptist Church · Women's Week 2026
Rethinking
Stress
A full summary of Dr. Modupe Akinola's message —
the science, the scripture, and the strategy.
Dr. Modupe Akinola
Columbia Business School · Stress Researcher
The Evening
A Word That Was Both Scientifically Rigorous
and Spiritually Alive
Dr. Modupe Akinola stood before our Women's Week gathering and did something rare — she bridged the laboratory and the sanctuary, showing us that what ancient scripture prescribed, modern neuroscience confirms.
Dr. Akinola has studied stress for over 22 years. But she opened not with data — she opened with the woman with the issue of blood. Twelve years of suffering. A crowd she had to push through. A choice to act in faith anyway. And in that single moment of reach, everything changed.
That, Dr. Akinola told us, is a stress-enhancing mindset in action. What follows is her full message — distilled and organized so you can return to it again and again.
"Just then, a woman who had hemorrhaged for 12 years slipped in from behind and lightly touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, if I can just put a finger on his robe I'll get well. Jesus turned, caught her at it, then reassured her — Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith and now you're well."
Matthew 9:21–22 · The Message
Three movements in that passage became the architecture of the entire evening: she acknowledged her reality, she welcomed the risk with faith, and she utilized her situation to take decisive action. Dr. Akinola showed us that every step is backed by science — and made possible by belief.
Message Summary
Six Things Dr. Akinola
Taught Us
The Foundation · What Stress Is
"Stress is when the demands of the situation exceed your resources to cope."
Demands
Danger, uncertainty, extra effort required — anything that presses on you and requires a response.
Resources
Your knowledge, abilities, personality, and the external support available to you in the moment.
The Biology
Your Body Was Beautifully Designed
When a zebra is chased by a lion, its body floods with adrenaline and cortisol — everything it needs to fight or flee. God designed the human stress response the same way. The problem is that in modern life, we are activating that system for non-life-threatening stressors. Bills. A difficult coworker. A family member who won't listen. Our cortisol rises — and never comes back down to homeostasis.
The Two Truths
Stress Can Kill You — and It Can Also Elevate You
Both are true at the same time. Chronic unexamined stress harms memory, harms performance, accelerates cellular aging, and contributes to cardiovascular disease. But research also shows that stress can sharpen focus, increase motivation, improve performance under pressure, and deepen resilience. The difference lies entirely in how you relate to it.
When Stress is Debilitating
The Harmful Side
- Impairs memory & focus
- Harms performance
- Accelerates cellular aging
- Elevates cardiovascular risk
- Narrows attention to threat
- Suppresses learning & growth
When Stress is Enhancing
The Elevating Side
- Sharpens focus & energy
- Improves performance
- Builds resilience over time
- Deepens motivation
- Expands perspective
- Accelerates growth
The Science of Mindset
It Is Not the Stress — It Is Your Mindset About Stress
Dr. Akinola cited remarkable research: fake poison ivy produced real rashes. A sugar pill given with confidence produced real healing. MIT students told that stress enhances performance had measurably better outcomes after exams. Wall Street bankers given a stress-enhancing framework had better performance reviews and fewer depressive symptoms. The mind is not separate from the body — it governs it.
Research Finding
Simply telling people before a high-stakes negotiation — "When your heart races, that's your body preparing for action" — measurably improved their negotiation performance. Same stress. Different frame. Different outcome.
Romans 12:2 is the theological anchor: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." That is not poetry. That is a prescription for neurological and behavioral change.
The Practice
"Date Your Stress" — Know It Intimately
You cannot transform a relationship you refuse to examine. Dr. Akinola invited us to sit with three questions about every major stressor: What does my body do? (headaches, tight shoulders, reaching for gummy bears) What do I think? (catastrophic spirals, self-blame, worst-case projections) How do I behave? (withdrawal, explosions, over-commitment). When you can map your own stress response, you gain the ability to catch yourself mid-cycle — and choose differently.
The Why Dance
Follow Your Stress to Its Source — and Find Purpose There
Dr. Akinola described her anxiety before speaking at Sacramento State Prison. She had never been inside a prison. She didn't know if they'd receive her. The fearful spiral was easy: What if I get hurt? What if they don't care? But she did the Why Dance — asking "why does this matter?" five times in succession, each time redirecting toward motivation rather than fear. Five iterations later, she arrived at this: if corrections officers manage stress better, they treat inmates with more humanity; inmates leave with more dignity; recidivism drops; communities heal. That is what she was going to the prison for.
The Scripture Blueprint
The Woman Already Knew
The woman with the issue of blood is not a metaphor. She is a case study. She had lived with her condition long enough to know herself — she knew what she needed and what she lacked. She did not deny her situation (she acknowledged it). She believed healing was possible and moved toward it anyway (she welcomed the risk with faith). And she did not wait for the crowd to part — she pushed through (she utilized her stress and took action). That is the full framework, lived out two thousand years ago.
"When you keep understanding and welcoming your stress,
you understand the underlying reason why you care —
and it adds more positivity to the experience."
— Dr. Modupe Akinola · Abyssinian Baptist Church, Women's Week 2026
The Framework
The Three Pillars of a
Stress-Enhancing Mindset
I
Step One
Acknowledge
Name It Without Judgment
Identify your stressors, your physical responses, your emotional patterns, and your behaviors — with total honesty and zero self-criticism. The act of naming what you feel moves your brain from the reactive amygdala to the deliberate prefrontal cortex. You shift from victim of your stress to observer of it — and observers can act.
Try this: Write out — "When I face [this stressor], my body does ___, I think ___, and I behave ___." Do it without commentary. Just witness.
II
Step Two
Welcome
Reconnect With Why It Matters
Welcoming stress does not mean enjoying it. It means refusing to run from it and instead asking what it reveals about what you care about. The Why Dance is the tool: ask "why does this matter?" repeatedly until you reach your deepest motivation — your purpose, your people, your calling. Stress that is connected to meaning is radically different from stress that floats unexamined.
"Consider it pure joy when you face trials… the testing of your faith produces perseverance." — James 1:2–4
III
Step Three
Utilize
Channel the Energy Toward Your Goal
Your stress response was designed by God as a mobilizing force. Once you have acknowledged it and reconnected it to purpose, the final step is to channel that activation into concrete action. Gather information. Expand your thinking. Ask what you will gain from surviving this season. Make one deliberate change. The woman did not sit outside the crowd — she moved through it.
Ask: "What can I do — right now — that moves me one step toward the thing I care about?"
Hear It Directly
From Dr. Akinola
The complete recording of Dr. Akinola's Women's Week address is available on the Abyssinian YouTube channel. Use the timestamps below to jump directly to key moments.
Ready to Go Deeper?
Put the Message Into Practice
Your next steps are waiting — practical, scripture-rooted actions you can start today.