navel gazing

A form of navel-gazing — The contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation.

Meanings

nounnavel gazing (countable and uncountable, plural navel gazings)

plural navel gazings

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of navel-gazing.

    Forget incense and the lotus position, forget notions of "getting rid of thoughts" or "navel gazing," meditation is, more broadly and more helpfully for most people, getting to know our minds and hearts.

    2018, Leah Weiss, “Introduction”, in How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity, and Embrace the Daily Grind, New York, N.Y.: Harper Wave, HarperCollins, →ISBN
    1 more example

    In spite of efforts by the government to focus public attention on the economy and to turn Canadians away from constitutional navel gazing to the outward challenges of the global economy, it was the election of Bill Clinton to the American presidency that set the mood for political change at home.

    1993, Fen Osler Hampson, Christopher J. Maule, “Global Jeopardy”, in Christopher J. Maule, Fen Osler Hampson, editors, Global Jeopardy: Canada among Nations 1993–94 (Carleton Public Policy Series; 12), Ottawa, Ont.: Carleton University Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 8
Cite this entry
APA

navel gazing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/navel%20gazing

MLA

“navel gazing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/navel%20gazing. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “navel gazing,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/navel%20gazing.

Source: navel gazing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.