High Expectations?

Hi,

First, I would like to say that I am a newbie here in all respects: I am new to this site, new to Bikram/hot yoga, and new to yoga in general. So far, I have spent hours reading through the posts on this site, and have received a wealth of useful and inspiring information, and would like to say thanks for creating this great resource!

Personally, I am full-time graduate student who is over-stressed and overweight (about forty pounds–not proud about it, but it will be changing). I am just about to embark on my second semester as a graduate student and based on my experience last semester, I know that I need to make changes in my life to avoid the stress of school from drastically impacting my health in a negative way. Therefore, I am looking into Bikram yoga as a way to get myself out of the house, away from the stresses of school and life, and possibly shed a few pounds, but is it realistic to expect that practicing Bikram yoga can do all of these things?

When doing school work or school-related work, I have found that my mind is muddled, and restricted, almost that I cannot think because I am so stressed about having to complete assignments and move on to something else. I used to have a social life but that disappeared when school work started consuming my existence (something else I plan to change) but as a result, I spent all day (literally) doing school work only to break for the occasional meal, to complete a household chore, or to attend classes. In incorporating Bikram yoga into my weekly regiment, I am hoping the 90-minutes will give me a chance to get out of my head, so-to-speak, and relax a bit. Can this happen?

Also, up until a few months ago, I used to work out, in my apartment, with weights, which has been ongoing for about three years. During that time, I lost some weight, but it was not a drastic weight-loss, per se. In fact, I do not even own a scale. Instead, I changed my shape and I was looking better than I ever have, and I was feeling better about myself. At the same time, while I am not worried about weight-loss as according to a scale, I am hoping to slim down. I have overly-healthy thighs, hips, and buttocks, which I was hoping would maybe look a bit more slim as I practiced Bikram (I plan to begin within the next two weeks, so depending on how my first few classes go I would like to jump into a thirty- [or even sixty-!] day challenge). Is slimming these areas possible? I’ve read posts on this forum by people saying how they were disappointed that they did not lose weight, and then I read the very inspiration post by Donna. Yet, I am still confused by how the term “weight” is being applied because, as I said, weight is not a big deal to me, rather than slimming down. Is this possible as well, or me just hoping?

I would appreciate any advice, stories, opinions, etc, that anyone would be willing to provide. Thank you! And, again, I truly appreciate this site! Thanks!