The monks of Mount Athos The Holy Mountain have a tradition of omphaloskepsis or concentration

on the navel (omphalo = navel and skepsis = thought), combined with restraining the breath.

St. Simeon the New Theologian

A saint of the 11th century. Abbot of the Monastery of St. Mamas and a hermit. He is considered the
greatest theologian since St. Gregory the Theologian in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Died in 1022.

Your mind should guard your heart in time of prayer;

the mind should constantly descend into the heart and
from the depths of the heart offer up prayer to God.

You should do all this until such time as you taste the sweetness of the Lord. When finally the mind
is in the heart and it tastes how sweet the Lord is, then it will not wish to leave the heart but will say
with St. Peter, "Lord, it is wonderful for us to be here" (Matt. 17:4); then the mind will constantly look
into the heart, and if it wanders, it will return there again and again.

For those who have no knowledge and understanding of this inner activity it will seem difficult and
oppressive. But those who have taste the sweetness of the Lord in prayer will cry with St. Paul,
"Nothing therefore can come between us and the love of Christ" (Rom. 8:35).

If you wish to learn how to descend into the heart and remain there I will tell you.

First you must observe the following three conditions:

1) You must be free from all cares, not only from vain and unholy cares but even from good
things. In other words, you should be dead to everything;
2) your conscience should be pure and it should not denounce you in anything.
3) You should be completely free from passionate attachments; your thoughts should not be
inclined toward anything worldly.
Then:

Sit alone in a quiet place, close the door, take your mind from every temporal and vain thing,
Bow your bead toward your chest, and stay attentively inside of yourself, not in the head but in the
heart.
Holding the mind there with your inner eyes watch your breathing.
With your mind find the place of the heart and let it abide there.

In the beginning you will experience darkness and discomfort, but if you will continue this activity of
attention without interruption, you will attain unceasing joy.
If the mind continues with this activity, it will find the place of the heart and will see things it never
knew and saw before.
Then, no matter what distracting thoughts would come, it will immediately repel and destroy them
through the name of Jesus.
From this time also the mind will experience anger toward the demons and will pursue and
overcome them.
In addition what usually follows from this you will learn by experience if with the help of God you will
guard your attention and keep your mind on the prayer "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!"