Do you ever try too hard to come up with an answer? You push and turn your mind in circles but you just can't quite figure things out. And finally, exhausted, you give up and what happens? You awake the next day and your answer is obvious. Viola!
So where does the answer come from?
Your conscious mind was asleep, and once it was out of the way... inspiration was able to appear, effortlessly.
You don't necessarily need to be asleep to access this phenomena. Just let the conscious mind relax instead of pushing, become very present, and focus your attention within. As Eckhart Tolle puts it...
Whenever an answer, a solution, or a creative idea is needed,
stop thinking for a moment by focusing attention on your inner energy field.
When you resume thinking, it will be fresh and creative. ~ Eckhart Tolle