This morning I read this in a poem by Rumi (13th century Persian poet):
Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open
you would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence
is in every small contracting and expanding,
the two as beautifully balanced
as birdwings.
(Translation: Coleman Barks)
Rumi’s focus is spiritual. But what he describes here also applies to the mind. Over time,, you can observe your own thinking spontaneously contracting and expanding. The trick is to be patient with the moments of contraction, and “catch the wave” when the mind naturally expands—those are the moments to do your best thinking work.