Hi mkb712,

Okay, first off, let's address the way you're holding the guitar, the first question.

You don't want to do this:https://ibb.co/gJtUB5 because you might strain your shoulder by keeping your elbow up so high.

This is more of the correct way: https://ibb.co/njWhW5

It may be tough for you to fret at first, but the important thing is to feel relaxed in your shoulders, and arms. If you play for extended hours like you do in the first image, you might end up seriously hurting yourself in the long run.

You can check out how to properly hold an acoustic guitar here. Skip to the 2 minute mark: https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=21987&s_id=1766

Now for question two.

It's definitely okay if the neck of your guitar is pointing a little upwards. Again, it's all about holding it in a comfortable way and that it won't cause any strain.

A note about your spider legs exercise.

From the video, it looks like your fretting hand/fingers are really tense and stiff. You might want to try easing up a little bit.

You can watch this older GuitarTricks tutorial from our YouTube channel just to compare Neal's fingers and yours. https://youtu.be/zvKNU4yj40o?t=58

Hope that helps!

Best,

Billy