>>Some individuals have a forward head posture.

Agreed, if by 'some' you mean 'a majority'. This seems to be the most common posture defect I see - and it's common enough that many car headrests assume you're going to sit like that and are set to shove your head forward. I've discovered that in a lot of cars I can pull the headrest out, turn it front-to-back, put it back in - and my neck doesn't ache at the end of a car trip.

Also, if you're short and sensitive about your height, fixing this defect will actually make you taller by a bit. Given the hours surgeons spend over an operating table, I'd expect this to be an issue there as well (I'd assume operating room tables are height adjustable, but that only partially sorts the ergonomics). To be fair, I like to drive sitting upright; that headrest angle might be more for the folks that angle their seats waaay back.

Speaking of Morihei Ueshiba, I never met him, but his son Kisshomaru Ueshiba visited the dojo I was studying aikido in (71 or 72). He was a relatively small man, invited me to pick him up. At the time, I was young, fit, could easily press 250 lbs - but I could not lift him off the mat. There's definitely something to the 'ki' in aikido.

One last thing: if you're picking a heavy object off the ground, tuck your chin down against your chest. This sets your body geometry so you're less likely to hurt yourself.