Trying to get grounded without contact with therapist?

I'm trying to figure out some ways that I haven't yet thought of that can reorient me and ground me. And wondered what others do.

This isn't just an in between session thing. My therapist is on a long vacation. And unfortunately I just found out about some things that may have a serious impact on my future. I've been so preoccupied by everything that I have just been trying to figure stuff out and have put almost everything else aside.

Now I am realizing that I have to return to a baseline. I haven't been eating properly or following a routine. I haven't done anything negative, but I can't say I've done anything positive either.

I did put in a call to the person covering for my therapist. He is someone I knew before I saw my therapist so we do have a history. Still I'm not sure how to handle that call should he return it. He is not my therapist and is markedly different. Not sure if I should put any hope into that? or just forge ahead on my own?

I'm sorry you're struggling.

I find the things that are grounding are those that gently put me in touch with my senses and emotions in a comforting way:

music
favorite foods
resting wrapped in a favorite quilt
gentle exercise like yoga or walking done for a period of time
writing a letter
charity work, just preparing a care package, making a small donation, whatever way I have in the moment of helping someone
Finding scents I enjoy, lemon in tea, burning sage, oatmeal soap...

Hope you feel better and get back to your baseline soon.

For me, I am most grounded when I can connect with people (other than my T or Pdoc). If that's not possible or doesn't work for you, other things I are:

Go out in the sun. For some reason being outside in a warm sun does wonders for my mood; go for long walks (I used to run but cant anymore); yoga/ breathing exercises; volunteer somewhere (it gets me out of m head); watch a favorite movie- for me sometimes really sad movies are cathartic; buying and preparing food; going shopping or just browsing.

I hope some of this helps...

I figured out today that listening to loud music in my car with the bass turned almost the way up is pretty grounding. There's something about the vibration from the bass going through my whole body that is very soothing and grounding. Just have to be careful with hearing...
Perhaps reaching out to the covering t will also be helpful? It won't be the same, but could provide additional support.

These are the things that I do to get myself grounded. I still have to work really hard at getting myself grounded, but these are the things that are pretty successful. If one doesn't seem to be working, I move on to another one. When I'm with my kids, I do things they can participate in. If I'm by myself, I do the things that are appropriate for that. I'm not often without my kids, so I take advantage of any time I'm not with them, and need to get grounded to do the breathing or the swimming or punching the punching bag

Breathing colors. My favorite color is pink. I breathe in pink and imagine the pink going to all of the places in me that hurt or need attention. Then I breathe out toxins and pain and poison in black. I do this until I can see my entire self filled with pink. Sometimes this takes 2 minutes, sometimes it takes an hour.
Listening to my favorite loud music. This leaves me clearly in the present. I was not allowed loud music when I was young and this is a fairly new phenomena to me.
Coloring. I color in mandala coloring books.. The shape and the experience is very soothing and grounding to me.
Drawing my own mandalas.
If I am not feeling grounded in the morning, during my shower I make sure to scrub my skin with a peppermint salt scrub. I also wash my hair with peppermint and lavender shampoo. Then I use lavender lotion on my skin and peppermint leave in conditioner in my hair, leaving those scents to ground me for the rest of the day. I often also dab lavender oil on my wrists so I can get a good whiff when necessary.
I use boxing gloves and pound the heck out of a punching bag. This lets me feel my limbs and my muscles in the present.
If I can, I will go swimming. The water all around me and the sense of moving my limbs grounds me.
I drink ginger tea or very strong coffee.
I put all of my stuff that I don’t want right now in a box, in a rowboat, that is attached to a very long rope that gets let out into a very large and remote body of water. Sometimes I do this again and again.
I imagine my spirit guides dealing with what is bothering me. Maybe my peacock spirit guide eats whatever poison is bothering me (peacocks eat baby cobras and then the peacock feathers can be ground up to make an antidote), I might imagine an owl flying off with the culprit in its talons.
I pay very close attention to my children and make it my intention to to give my children all that I did not have.

Thanks. These are all supportive in and of themselves and have great suggestions for self-care. It's wonderful to hear that people do have their own strategies. For all of us, that is really important.

I will try some of these since many are not what I've thought of before so I'm up for trying something else. I'm also going to try things I have had in place before that I just lost sight of.

I will see if the covering therapist gets back to me and ask directly for what I need to get through this stressful period.

By the way, Leah and others, I did try that online therapy service. Just a brief interchange that I said in the beginning was just to get advice about a particular issue that has come up. The person was so helpful, always turning what I was saying into some sort of positive thing. I was kinda amazed and ended up feeling actually good instead of defeated or worried. I can't say it is lasting, but it did help me see things from a different point of view. I guess that's why I also post here. I don't necessarily think that having face to face therapy contact is the only way to handle things, though I do tend to privilege it. Now I'm wondering if other things can have an impact too.

To get myself grounded, my favorite way is to get out in nature. I go out into the desert, just me, walk along at my own pace, look with my eyes, heart, and soul; take pictures, breathe deeply, and just BE. I did that this evening and it was wonderfully nurturing. Of course there's not always time for that. I also do an exercise t taught me to go down into my body and check in with different body parts all the way down to my feet. it sounded so crazy the first time she suggested it but I tried it and it works. Sometimes if I'm having trouble going to sleep, I have imaginary conversations with t in my head. those always soothe me.

Have you tried guided meditation or guided mindfulness. I find both very helpful. If you google Tara Brach she has free downloads for both along with instructions for beginners. She also has some great pod casts.

You might want to give it a try it has helped me immensely

When you say grounded do you mean trying to get untriggerd? If that is what you mean then I have not been able to untrigger myself without talking to someone to help me feel better. Mostly right now it is T that connects with me and I am able to come back to baseline with is help. I know we are suppose to learn how to do that ourselves. I have tried all the self help suggestions and they are subpar but are at least something when frightened and alone. Sometimes I just have to ride it out, and hope I do not seriously harm myself, while I wait for my brain to stop hijacking me.

The cover shrink called and was helpful. First he is funny and made me laugh so that was nice. He did not ask anything about what the content of what I was worried about, but instead talked about how people are able to turn their minds away toward other things.

Though I haven't been feeling what I would normally call triggered, he did talk about hyperarousal and the sympathetic nervous system. I have been kinda on a high alert mode and can almost feel the stress chemicals in my body. So we talked directly about that and what sorts of things to do to reduce that.

He suggested meditation. I decided that even though I am a Buddhist, that meditation wouldn't be that helpful and sometimes makes things feel more intense. But I also do Tai Chi, which I do for moving mediation as well as it being beautiful. I am still a beginner in a class but I think practicing a little bit more right now might quiet some of my nervous system down. And then I can try other things, including some of the great suggestions.