What is naval gazing?

Answer 1

It has to do with thinking about yourself, possibly at the expense of actually doing anything.

I have wondered about the origin of the phrase. One imagines a person staring at their belly-button -- the posture paints a picture. It suggests the question "what are you expecting to see??"

Another interpretation is that the person is trying to figure out where he came from, the belly button representing the umbilical cord which connected him to his mother. Naval gazing involves asking the question "where did I come from," or "who am I?"

The navel is the 'belly button'. It means daydreaming or not being focused on the important things going on around you.