I’ve been working on these on and off for at least a year but I still struggle a lot with the arm and shoulder engagement. Recently I decided to restart with the caterpillar and beginner butterfly but I still find that when I do feel stable - it is because I am relying quite a lot on my thighs. I can feel that my arms are not really engaged - any advice on how to more actively engage my arms? I’ve attached a video
[youtube.com]

Hi! So close but you're missing one key factor. I'd say you should start off by training the Inverted Crucifix. It's looking like the POC for your inverted crucifix are a little off and you're relying on the back of the calf a lot. You should feel a good deal of grip between the knees as well, not just the pulling leg into the pole with the calf. Does that make sense?

Once you have the correct grip for the Inverted crucifix you'll be able to place the hands and body in the correct position. Right now you have the body centered with the pole. For a caterpillar you need to shift over towards the shoulder of the bent arm as you come up into caterpillar.

Have you tried using the caterpillar program? I cover all of this and more in it [www.studioveena.com]