Hi. It means both.

Imagine that we are trying to understand something, perhaps a hard English idiom. This describes the process of trying to understand the idiom as a metaphor - something that we are instead trying to "see".

That thing is in the distance, and we can't yet see it (understand it) fully. First of all we "focus" by squinting our eyes and concentrating really hard on it. Next, we twist our head, maybe even our whole body around, to allow us to see it from a different angle that might help us to see it (and therefore understand it) better. 

Does this make sense?

Tom

One question

It takes some focusing - some twisting - but if that weakness can become a strength.

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I can't apprehend this paragraph exactly.

Does it mean that we need to focus or twist?