Xylitol

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
Baba ji is currently in Surrey BC and will be in Toronto in a few days. 

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
Baba ji is currently in Surrey BC and will be in Toronto in a few days. 

almond oil is best imo

The key when sitting in crossed leg postures is to just let the legs go to sleep. This will help overcome body consciousness. 
The feeling of the rug being off the ground etc is due to changes happening in the body, probably a purification of the inner ear channels (an area which is responsible for balance) creating an illusionary feeling. You can safely ignore it. There was a time when i used to feel like I was flying when I sat in asan. 
 

You need to speak to gyaani Mahapursh before proceeding. See the warning here: 
 

If you are trying to make a mantar sidh that is from certain sukt Banis such as Bhram Kavich or Chandi di Var, please see the warning from Sant Jagjit Singh ji here: 
 
 

Sant Gurbachan Singh ji taught that the greater the warrior, the greater the stillness of their mind and control over their vikaars.

Narsingh Avtar became pargat in what is now Pakistan (I think), he then journeyed to this location in India and disappeared. There is a long tunnel with an underground river flowing from it. At the end of the tunnel is the location where the avtar disappeared from the world, and the location where the river springs from the ground. Don't know the name of the river. At the mouth of the tunnel entrance is a mandir dedicated to the Avtar.

Probably none.
It's a completely optional thing. Nobody forces it on the woman, nor should they. It's a huge boon for them spiritually if they choose to follow it, and if not, then I guess they'll only get the normal phall of their simran seva like men without having this additional bonus on top of it. 

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
Baba ji is currently in Surrey BC and will be in Toronto in a few days. 

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
Baba ji is currently in Surrey BC and will be in Toronto in a few days. 

tea promotes relaxation, maybe they used a kind of non-caffeinated tea?

I take this to mean that we shouldn't start and then stop for periods of time. If we take a long break from simran than the churn (that shaanti, that focused surti, that anand from Naam) could be lost. This is why so many don't make it anywhere. When we are motivated we push ourselves, when motivation wanes we start indulging  in the world and fail this test repeatedly.  This is what happens to me. Then we have to make efforts to rebuild that shaanti, that focus, that anand...

you need to massage oil onto your scalp. the top of the head, temples, and top back area of the head. any oil is okay, almond oil is pretty good to use. you can also put a bit of oil in your belly button and nostrils if you want. 

you need to massage oil onto your scalp. the top of the head, temples, and top back area of the head. any oil is okay, almond oil is pretty good to use. you can also put a bit of oil in your belly button and nostrils if you want. 

it's not only physical celibacy, but celibacy of the mind along with redirection of this powerful energy into Naam. This transforms the consciousness and greatly increases the speed at which you move into a state of higher consciousness. Note that this is different than normal worldy intellect. This is a more refined, spiritual intellect. Although I'm certain that the same thing can be used to power an increase in worldly intellect as well. 

it's not only physical celibacy, but celibacy of the mind along with redirection of this powerful energy into Naam. This transforms the consciousness and greatly increases the speed at which you move into a state of higher consciousness. Note that this is different than normal worldy intellect. This is a more refined, spiritual intellect. Although I'm certain that the same thing can be used to power an increase in worldly intellect as well. 

Use no Willpower to Cause Your Mantra to Come
One more time, Swamiji and I were walking quietly along the Ganga by the ashram. Once again, there was no conversation going on, when suddenly one of his gems was dropped at my feet. He said, “Use no willpower to cause your mantra to come.” I replied, “Hmmm?” Once again he repeated, “Use no willpower to cause your mantra to come.” This time I said, “Hmmm,” acknowledging not that I understood, but only that I had heard the words. I always appreciated the fact that whenever I would question “Hmmm?” he would always repeat his comment word- for-word. He would not say, “What I meant to say was....” He would literally say the same exact words, which allow me to hear it again, clearly. After his instruction about mantra sunk in, I asked, “What if it never comes?” Swamiji said, “Eventually it will come.”
Later I remembered that he had written an instruction in one of his books that one should allow the mantra to arise and repeat itself. I started to remember the concept in the field of advertising that if a catchy tune was created about a product, after some time people would have internalized that song, and the company would now have free advertising. The product jingle would just go on, inside the minds of their target market, and that this would not cost them any more money. The advertising would be on a sort of free autopilot. I came to see that this is what is referred to as ajapa japa, the automatic remembering of the mantra.
He was right, as usual. For a while it was very difficult to break the habit of speaking the mantra in my mind (using the karmendriya of speech). As he had predicted, the mantra eventually started to come on its own, without me intentionally talking internally. Then, finally, I was truly able to start to follow the mantra into the silence where it was trying to lead me. These empowered mantras that are given to us by the tradition really are tremendous gifts, if only we are willing to learn to follow them instead of just jabbering inside our heads. 

There's free online software called audacity for audio editing. I don't know if it will meet your needs, but it's worth checking out.

I don't know what it is.
But I'll tell you the general principle for all meditation. Just keep focused on the meditation and let whatever sensations  / experiences you have be. They will come, whatever is gonna happen will happen, and then they will go. I have found that the the body has energy channels which have blockages, these blockages become opened up *automatically* during meditation. During the process of them opening up, we experience sensations. But these sensations are not the goal of the path, but rather side effects of unblocking. Hence the instruction to stay focused on your meditation. 
Generally, my feeling is if something happens that might be a health issue we should get it checked out. In kaljug most people don't have a great avastha so stuff that comes up is usually health related rather than spiritual advancement. BUT, keep in mind that sometimes disease is buried deep, and as our body gets cleaned out, we experience colds etc which is garbage coming out of the body. So it's actually a good thing. 
Finally, if you still are unsure, go meet a sant. The internet cannot give you an accurate diagnosis but a sant who has a high avastha can probably help guide you further as needed. If you let us know which city you live near, we might be able to guide you to a sant. 

while there is no doubt jhatka has its place as a last resort for fauj in the need, I still don't get why jhatka is practiced continually today, when there is no actual need to eat meat. I've heard mention of warrior spirit, but truth be told there are plenty of meat eaters who'll run and plenty of vegetarians who'll fight. The warrior spirit then doesn't come from meat, but from Dasam Bani. I've heard it's to get used to the sight of blood or to practice cutting heads for jung. But blood will not make one in bir russ squeamish. Fighting a moving, skilled, and armoured target is very different to decapatating an immobile goat. Fight skills come from abhyaas (of bani and shastar vidya), not from chatka'ing goats. I find myself unsatisfied with the answers given so far.

This. This needs to be shared with anyone who walks this path and runs into strange experiences, unexpected changes etc. etc. etc. If you're not sure if your experience is normal, THIS needs to be listened to.

A few points that worked for me when I was younger:
burn up all your body’s energy. don’t go to bed with lots of energy left in your body. workout, work, do whatever you need, but this excess energy might bother you if you go to bed with too much in your body. Stay busy in simran, sangat, seva, learning, work, studying whatever. just stay busy.  socializing with sangat who are clean is helpful. You’ll know if they are clean b/c you can feel their energy, or at the very least notice if you get increase of wrong thoughts around them working towards a large goal really helps to channel your focus and discipline (as noted above).  avoid eating overly sweet or salty or spicy foods. This is especially important in the late afternoon. Avoid all achar from late afternoon onwards. The increased acidity from these foods irritates the sensitive nerves in the genitals, causing the surti to be pulled down. If the surti is just down there, that’s not such a big deal, but most of us will then start to get kaam thoughts b/c we lack discipline. don’t eat too much, only eat as much as the body needs.  don’t eat from the hands of a vikaari person, their negative energy will mess with the food you eat.   
Bhagti things that help:
continual simran, it might be easier if you plant your surti in one of the chakras, as it helps anchor it up high. the key is to prevent it from going to the lower chakra. going low isn’t bad, but just makes it more likely to have kaam thoughts b/c of their association with this area.  imagine the star on Guru Nanak Sahib ji’s holy charan placed at this chakra, it will help raise your surti.  to always have a recording of simran or bani playing helps. When one ear gets tired, switch the mp3 players headphone to the other ear. I used to do this even when watching tv or sleeping.   

Experiences of Naam Abhiyaasi Singhs | Giani Thakur Singh Ji
 

https://khojee.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/sarab-rog-ka-aukhad-naam/