More than three years after COVID emerged, people are anxious to resume their pre-pandemic lifestyle. But don’t be too quick to return to old habits. “Even though COVID brought stress and anxiety, it also changed how we live and approach our health, and in many ways, for the better,” says Dr. Edward Phillips, founder and director of the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. “The experience of living through COVID can be a teachable moment about how to continue the healthy habits we adopted during the pandemic.”

Here’s a look at four areas of health maintenance affected by COVID and the positive changes they created.