Navel-Gazing Was Once a Real Meditation Practice

The navel is the depression in the abdomen marking where the umbilical cord was attached. *Navel-gazing*, now meaning self-absorbed introspection, translates the Greek *omphaloskepsis*, a genuine contemplative practice among Byzantine monks who fixed their gaze on the navel to aid concentration in prayer. The mockery came later. A *navel orange* is named for the small secondary fruit at its base, which looks like one.

• The abdominal scar. *The navel.*
• Navel-gazing — self-absorption. *Endless navel-gazing.*
• Omphaloskepsis — the Greek term. *Omphaloskepsis.*
• Navel orange — a seedless variety. *A navel orange.*
• Umbilical — the medical adjective. *The umbilical cord.*

Word forms

• The navel marks the cord's attachment.Anatomy.
• The report is pure navel-gazing.Criticism.
• Navel oranges have a small second fruit.Botany.

Why navel oranges are all clones

• Navel oranges are seedless, so they cannot be grown from seed
• Every tree is propagated by grafting
• All descend from a single mutation in Brazil around 1820
• The small second fruit at the base gives the variety its name
• Genetically every navel orange is effectively the same tree

Old English *nafela*, from a Germanic root related to *nave*, the hub of a wheel, and to Latin *umbilicus*.