[samatman]

I had to look up the James Bond shower: it's when you take a warm shower, and finish with cold water.

I've been doing that since I was a young lad, it's how my father taught me.

I grant that it might make it more difficult to establish the habit, but I wouldn't know. To my taste it's the best of both worlds.

[zhynn]

This is what I have been doing for about a decade. It doesn't work as well if the water can't get below 15C.

Typically I count slowly to 60 while under the cold water, and try to focus on the count. It is easy to get lost at around 40s. Then I put the warm back on, and finish with ~20s hot/warm. I have come to think of it as a "cold water reboot" for my brain.

[samatman]

Strike me as a good approach!

Something I learned from a Twitter thread, which would be impossible to find (sadly), is the following:

With the water cold, close your eyes, point your face at the water stream, and hold your breath as long as you can.

This apparently triggers some kind of mammalian response involving dive reflexes, that's good for cortisol levels. All I know is that I feel great afterwards.

I don't do this consistently, but I should.