He discovered that these things were also present in his ordinary speaking, though in lesser degree. With further observation, Alexander found that he could to some degree prevent the pulling back of his head, and the improvements that resulted led him to conclude that this was in some way central to the other things he had noticed. In other words, the way he used his head and neck was affecting the functioning of his vocal and respiratory mechanisms. Convinced that he was on the track of a solution, he continued to work. Tightening the neck, pulling the head down onto the body, in a way that causes a shortening, tensing and distortion of the whole body is a common misuse that is easy to see.
Most people do a similar thing to themselves in activity.
By now Alexander had reasoned out that he needed to create a lengthening of his stature, and that in order to do this he must allow his head to release forward and up from his body. Let my neck be free so that My head moves forward and up, in such a way that My spine lengthens and my back widens, and My knees release forwards Different teachers may choose different words to describe this process, for example, Move your whole head delicately up and Allow your whole body to follow. Take a moment to sense how you are sitting as you are reading this. In spite of the fact that it has taken us years to get wrong, we try to get right in a moment. It is common experience that sigificant time and work is usually needed to successfully change an established habit.