Now the phrase “forward and up” has led to more confusion than any of the other ones used in teaching the Alexander Technique, and its explanation affords considerable difficulty. In the first place it must be remembered that Alexander coined the phrase in response to what he saw himself and others doing wrong. He noticed that he was pulling his head back and down, and he came to the conclusion that this was an interference with proper use. “Forward and up”, therefore, is primarily a preventive direction and indicates that the usual tensions that pull the head back must be inhibited. The point I want to make here is that it was these habitual tensions that Alexander was getting at, and not the position of the head in space.
Patrick MacDonald (“On Giving Directions, Doing and Non-Doing” – STAT Memorial Lecture 1963)