I can only say that, please do not practice any advanced kind of meditation without a guru/experienced teacher and don't do drugs or alcohol if you are meditating.
I've been starting a personal meditation practice, but I have no teacher outside what I read (mainly Easwaran). Do you have any recommendation for how one might find an experienced teacher while living in the west?
I can't say anything about how to find a teacher in the west, but usually its good to be with a satsang (set of people who do the same practice with an aim for the truth) at least in that way they can be guided in the right direction.