Author Aria Johnson On How Each Of Us Can Leverage The Power Of Gratitude To Improve Our Overall Mental Wellness

As we all know, times are tough right now. In our post-COVID world, we are also experiencing what some have called a “mental health pandemic”. What can each of us do to get out of this “Mental and Emotional Funk”? One tool that each of us has access to is the simple power of daily gratitude. As a part of our series about the “How Each Of Us Can Leverage The Power Of Gratitude To Improve Our Overall Mental Wellness” I had the pleasure of interviewing Aria Johnson.

Aria Johnson is a TV personality, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and host of the “Behind The Glitz” podcast. She is best known as the music expert on “Beverly Hills Pawn,” the #1 show on Reelz Channel, which aired for five seasons in 83 countries, with 20 million viewers per episode. As a former recording artist, Aria founded The Golden Voice, a consulting firm that helps pop stars succeed in the music business, contributing to over 50 million album sales. After facing a life-threatening health crisis, Aria’s journey shifted from Hollywood to the hospital bed, and then to healing. This experience ignited her passion for teaching audiences how to prevent and overcome burnout and achieve peak performance without the stress.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about you and about what brought you to your specific career path?

I was on top of the world — five seasons on a hit TV show as the music expert, a loving husband, and a healthy baby girl I had always wanted. Then, one day in 2018, I collapsed and ended up in the ER with full-body pain and bleeding from the throat. The doctors were baffled. They had no idea what was wrong with me, and despite trying everything they suggested, I just kept getting sicker. When I hit rock bottom and almost died, I realized no one was coming to save me.

Even with the accolades, I never felt good enough. I had pleased, performed, and perfected my way to success since I was four years old, when I stood on that restaurant table and sang “On the Good Ship Lollipop.” Like many of you, I was always a workaholic, but after motherhood, it amplified. I used those same strategies to throw Pinterest-worthy parties, shed that baby weight, and “kill it at work, mama.” At one point, my body stopped whispering and violently screamed, “ENOUGH!”

It took five years, ten diagnoses, twenty doctors, and thousands of pills to realize that the keys to getting better started and stopped with me. I had to re-parent myself like I would take care of a four-year-old child and learn to do the things that were good for me, even when I didn’t feel like it. That meant eating when I was hungry, sleeping when I was tired, and most of all, learning to say “NO.”

I relentlessly studied bio-hacking, read books and research papers, and learned what worked and what didn’t. I took up daily meditation, gratitude, breath work, infrared saunas, and ice baths. I learned that to love yourself isn’t just a feeling — love is an action.

In my darkest moments, I was a victim, constantly asking why this was happening to me. That is why I dragged myself to a seminar across the country, hoping to pull myself out of this deep depression. At that seminar, the speaker said, “Stop asking ‘Why is this happening to you?’ and start asking ‘How is this happening for you?’” So, I spent the next two months journaling the answer to that question. I realized that ever since I was about eight years old, I had dreamed of being a motivational speaker “someday,” after my music and acting career. But I hadn’t lived enough pain that people could relate to, to feel confident to do it. In the process of asking how this was happening for me, I realized it was so I could teach other men and women how to prevent and recover from burnout from an authentic place and to live a happy, successful life. And now, I was uniquely qualified.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

One of the most unforgettable moments in my career happened at a women’s conference in Miami. It was a big deal for me because it gathered some of the top female tech leaders from across the country. I was incredibly nervous, but once I started speaking, everything flowed smoothly.

Midway through my talk about overcoming burnout, I got a bit too enthusiastic — and wouldn’t you know it — my high heel went flying off! It soared through the air like an unexpected frisbee and landed right in front of the stage. Initially, I was mortified. I thought, “Great, now they’ll remember me as the woman who lost her shoe on stage.”

But then something amazing happened. The audience burst into laughter. Seizing the moment, I kicked off my other shoe and quipped, “Well, I guess this is what they mean by kicking burnout to the curb!” That got even more laughs and a round of applause. I took a playful bow, and it totally broke the ice in an unexpected but wonderful way.

This experience taught me a valuable lesson: sometimes what feels like a disaster in the moment can turn into a perfect opportunity to connect with people on a more genuine level. And honestly, it’s hard to keep a straight face when you’re standing there with one shoe!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why do you think that resonates with you? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

“The quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask yourself.” This insight from Tony Robbins has always resonated deeply with me because of its undeniable truth. When I moved from a victim mindset, constantly asking, “Why is this happening to me?” to a growth mindset, asking, “How is this happening for me?” my life took a significant turn for the better.

Changing my perspective gave meaning to my struggles. With that newfound purpose, everything started to make sense, and I transformed the most challenging experience of my life into one of the most rewarding.

Embracing this idea empowered me to help others transform their lives. Simply talking about my Hollywood experiences wouldn’t have had the same impact if that was my main focus. However, everyone can relate to struggling and triumphing over adversity, especially regarding health. This is the driving force behind my work today.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story about why that resonated with you?

Reading Rachel Hollis’ book, Girl, Stop Apologizing, truly changed my life. After having my baby, I went through postpartum anxiety and felt a lot of guilt about going after my dreams. Moving from the fast paced life of Los Angeles to Bend, Oregon, where most moms stayed at home, only made it harder.

I felt like there was constant social pressure to ‘give up’ my ambitions. When I threw myself into work I felt the struggle of losing precious time with my daughter. I know this feeling is not uncommon and when I spoke to my friends about it they all admitted to similar feelings, but we never felt like we were allowed to express them.

Rachel’s book helped me understand that it’s okay to want more and to stop feeling guilty about my ambitions. Her advice made me see that pursuing my dreams didn’t take away from being a mother. Instead, it showed my daughter what resilience and determination look like.

This new perspective helped me find a balance between my career and my role as a mom, making my life more fulfilling. My daughter means the world to me, and now I can show her how to love deeply while also following her dreams.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I’m excited to be working on my second book, focusing on how to reach peak performance minus the burnout. This book is meant to serve as a guide for the overachievers and the overwhelmed. It’s a book for women who feel like they carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. They are overworked, underpaid, and constantly overwhelmed by societal pressures while trying to take care of everyone around them, often neglecting their own well-being.

These women have many roles — they are leaders in business, entrepreneurs, mothers, daughters, wives, partners, sisters and friends. They are the ones keeping everything running smoothly; cooking meals, tending to others’ needs, maintaining spaces, caring for children and even taking on roles like playing the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. On top of all that is the stress of worrying about toxins in their food and home; it’s no wonder that burnout is killing women!

According to a study by Deloitte 77% of 1,000 professionals in the U.S. have faced burnout in their careers. Additionally 91% mentioned that burnout affects their work quality and 83% highlighted its impact on their lives. My book is focused on offering strategies to help women achieve better health, wealth and happiness.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I had dreamed of being a speaker for many years but felt like I didn’t yet have enough to offer. After being beaten down by chronic illness for years, I thought I was too weak. When attending a conference, I met an amazing woman. We went to dinner, shared our dreams, and formed a strong friendship. I mentioned my dream to be a keynote speaker, but we didn’t discuss it again afterward.

Six months later, she called me and said, “I want to be your agent. I believe the world needs your message, and I can help you bring it to them.” At that point, I was 80% better but still dealing with full body pain. I told my husband and daughter about the call, but I felt that I had to wait until I was 100% healthy before starting this career. I didn’t want to be a fraud. They both adamantly disagreed and insisted that I was ready now. My daughter, who was six at the time, started chanting, “Do it! Do it! Do it!” My husband grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me in the eye, and convinced me that this was my time.

If it wasn’t for their unwavering belief in me, I would have waited until the “perfect” time, which might never have come. Their support was the wind beneath my wings. Amazingly, through teaching others what I had learned, I reached 100% health. It was through helping others that I healed myself. I owe it all to that incredible agent, and to my husband and daughter for their encouragement and belief in me.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now that we are on the topic of gratitude, let’s move to the main focus of our interview. As you know, the collective mental health of our country is facing extreme pressure. We would like to explore together how every one of us can use gratitude to improve our mental wellness. Let’s start with a basic definition of terms. How do you define the concept of Gratitude? Can you explain what you mean?

Gratitude is about being in the present and choosing a higher vibrational feeling, which is the hardest thing to do. People say that the glass is half empty or it’s half full, but the reality is that both things are true. You can have pain and joy at the same time, but whatever you focus on grows. I’ve heard a lot about toxic positivity, and let me be clear, this is not that. Toxic positivity is where you squash your own or someone else’s feelings because you don’t have the emotional depth to hold space for their pain. I’m not saying, “There is no rain, there is no rain, there is no rain.” I’m saying, “Grab an umbrella and dance in the rain.” Every single one of us can find beauty if we look for it, can find joy in moments of sadness, and can reach for love when the alternative is hate.

I want to clarify that if you are clinically depressed, I feel your pain. I’ve been there, and no amount of gratitude is going to cure your diagnosis, but the science says that while your brain is focused on gratitude for those 30 seconds, it shuts down the amygdala, which is your fear center. It shuts down the depression temporarily. So, you can try gratitude exercises every day, and over time it will rewire your brain to make you a happier person due to something called neuroplasticity. It is true that we can change our brains based on what we think about. We do, in fact, build new neural networks every day, so why not build them into something that makes you happy?

Why do you think so many people do not feel gratitude? How would you articulate why a simple emotion can be so elusive?

Just hang out with a four year old child to see how easy it is to focus on what’s wrong rather than what’s right — it’s human nature. You can take a child to Disneyland for the best day of their life, but when you say no to ice cream they’ll still lose their mind and say, “This is the worst day ever.” We’re just like that child when things don’t go our way. Living in gratitude requires living an intentional life. It takes constant effort and being present, which is hard.

When we dwell on the past, we can get depressed, and when we worry about the future, we can get anxious, but neither of these thoughts are fully accurate. Our minds play tricks on us. Research shows that 50% of our past memories are actually false, so we might be feeling sad about something that didn’t even happen the way we remember. We create our own misery, which holds us back from gratitude. Additionally, research shows that 90% of what we worry about in the future never happens, creating stress about an imaginary future.

What if we used our imagination for good? That’s where visualization comes in — it’s using your imagination for what you want to happen. Gratitude is a starting point for manifesting your desires because, to create the life we want, we need to be in a state of celebration. We can’t just want it; we have to feel the celebratory feelings as if it already happened. This is what the movie “The Secret” got wrong — they left out that you need the positive feelings of what you want. Starting with gratitude is the easiest way to get into a good feeling state, which helps you achieve your goals and dreams faster.

This might be intuitive to you but I think it will be constructive to help spell it out. Can you share with us a few ways that increased gratitude can benefit and enhance our life?

I think it’s important to break this down. How can gratitude make our lives better? Here are a few ways:

• Boosted Mental Health: When you regularly practice gratitude, you will feel happier day to day. Over time, you can even rewire a negative mindset by practicing gratitude.
• Improved Physical Health: People who show gratitude report fewer physical problems and feel healthier. When you feel good, you’re more likely to exercise, eat healthy, and get regular check-ups.
• Better Sleep: Writing in a gratitude journal before bed can help you sleep better. It calms your mind and reduces worries, leading to deeper sleep.

By practicing gratitude daily, whether through writing, meditation, breath work, or simply acknowledging the good around you, you can enjoy these benefits and improve your overall well-being.

Let’s talk about mental wellness in particular. Can you share with us a few examples of how gratitude can help improve mental wellness?

Definitely! Gratitude has a huge impact on your mental health, and making it part of your daily life is the goal. When you do this you’ll have so many benefits:

• Reduces Stress and Anxiety: When you are in a state of gratitude, your brain will release chemicals that make you feel good like serotonin and dopamine. This chemical reaction changes your focus from what’s wrong to what’s right.
• Improves Your Mood: Regularly acknowledging the good things in life helps you feel better. As I mentioned earlier, what you focus on grows.
• Builds Resilience: Gratitude helps us turn our pain into power, making it easier to overcome challenges.
• Boosts Self-Esteem: It lets us appreciate our own journey and achievements.
• Strengthens Relationships: Expressing gratitude deepens our connections and reduces loneliness.

When you practice gratitude daily, through using things like meditation, journaling, thirty second morning and evening gratitude exercises and even just pausing to appreciate the beauty around you, it leads to a happier and more fulfilled life

Ok wonderful. Now here is the main question of our discussion. From your experience or research, what are “Five Ways That Each Of Us Can Leverage The Power Of Gratitude To Improve Our Overall Mental Wellness”. Can you please share a story or example for each?

1 . Theta Gratitude Morning and Bedtime Routine:

During my lowest points, I would wake up every day in pain, dreading the day ahead. Discovering the power of the theta state — those first few hypnotic minutes after waking and before falling asleep — was a game changer. This brainwave state allows the brain to absorb messages as truths, effectively rewiring your nervous system.

Morning: Before you open your eyes, smile and think of three things you’re grateful for. This simple habit has transformed my mornings, consistently helping me wake up happier.

Bedtime: Right before falling asleep, reflect on three positives of your day. This rewires your brain to look for good throughout the day.

These exercises take about thirty seconds each and can reduce stress (including emotional distress), alleviate physical pain, and improve sleep quality.

2 . Gratitude Journaling to Manifest Your Desires:

Journal what you want to happen as if it has already happened and thank God and the universe for it.

In 2008, I had a life coach who encouraged me to manifest my dreams, including finding love. She instructed me to write love letters to my future husband every night, in the present tense, feeling the emotions of already having him in my life. Despite my doubts, I wrote these letters nightly. Over time, my heart changed, and I could see and feel his presence.

I wrote things like, “Dear future husband, I love you because you have integrity, because of your honor, because you treat people with kindness.” I detailed all the qualities I desired as if they were already true, and I felt it deeply.

After 21 days of writing, I met Luke. Although skeptical, I continued writing letters during our dating period, now asking, “Could this be you?” A year later, we were engaged, and eight months after that, we were married. On our wedding day, I gifted him a book of all the letters I wrote, starting 21 days before we met.

In the past, I had experienced one bad relationship after another. But my husband had all the qualities I wanted in a partner — integrity, character, and honor. This experience proved to me that manifesting through gratitude is real. I wrote him into existence, and so can you. It doesn’t have to be a partner; it could be your dream job, health, or anything you desire.

3 . Raise Your Vibration/Gratitude Meditation:

Integrating gratitude into meditation can elevate your emotional state, making you more receptive to positivity. For instance, during meditation, focus on being grateful for life’s simple pleasures. This practice can profoundly transform your outlook, reducing stress and enhancing emotional resilience. You can find options on YouTube like “Raise Your Vibration Guided Meditation” or “Gratitude Guided Meditation.” These can start at 5 minutes and be as long as you want. The options are endless.

4 . Text Three People You Love:

Expressing gratitude through text can:

• Boost Personal Relationships: Strengthens bonds by showing appreciation, leading to more supportive and satisfying relationships.
• Improve Psychological Health: Increases happiness and decreases depression for both the sender and receiver.
• Promote a Positive Feedback Loop: Encourages a cycle of kindness and appreciation.
• Increase Mindfulness: Requires you to reflect on positive aspects of relationships, enhancing present-moment awareness.
• Encourage Habit Formation: Regularly sending gratitude texts can develop a habit of recognizing and appreciating the positive aspects of life, altering your general disposition towards a more grateful stance.

5 . Mindfulness Gratitude Walks:

This practice involves observing and appreciating the natural environment while walking. Similar to EMDR ((eye movement and desensitization processing therapy), your eyes naturally move from right to left — rock, tree, sky, bird — helping shift focus from distressing thoughts to the beauty around you. This activity neutralizes negative emotions and fosters a grounded, grateful mindset.

Each of these practices has been crucial in my journey and for those I’ve coached, proving that gratitude is not just an emotion but a powerful tool for transforming mental wellness.

Is there a particular practice that can be used during a time when one is feeling really down, really vulnerable, or really sensitive?

Definitely. One practice that’s really effective, especially when you’re feeling down or anxious, is breath work. It’s something you can do anywhere, even in a crowded room and no one would notice. The great thing is that this will instantly calm you down. The US Navy actually uses a technique called 4–6–8 breathing to help calm soldiers at war. Here’s how it works: breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 6 counts, and then exhale for an 8 count. Try to do this for one to two minutes. This technique grounds you in the present moment and makes you feel safe, which is so important when you’re feeling sensitive or overwhelmed.

When we’re feeling bad, our minds tend to focus on the past or worry about the future. Anything that brings us back into the moment can make a big difference. There is a lot of research backing this up. If you find it hard to remember 4–6–8, another technique I use daily is box breathing: inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts, and hold for 4 counts again. Imagine tracing a box shape with your mind — it really helps keep you focused.

Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or resources that you would recommend to our readers to help them to live with gratitude?

You mean besides my Podcast Behind The Glitz? Lol! I highly recommend the Mel Robbins podcast. She backs up her advice with science while keeping it entertaining and relatable through a pop culture lens.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

If I could start a movement, it would be called the “Raise Your Voice” movement. This initiative would combat burnout by promoting self care practices through my VOICE framework. The goal is to empower high achievers and people under stress to prioritize their well-being. All methods would be scientifically shown to help with mental, physical, and emotional wellness while maintaining peak productivity.

Key Elements:

1. Education and Awareness: Increase understanding about burnout warning signs and solutions. Host workshops, events and use social media to spread the word.
2. Community Support Groups: Create online communities for sharing experiences and strategies to prevent and overcome burnout.
3. VOICE Framework Implementation:

• Vision: Focus on mindset and help individuals clarify goals. This will reduce stress from conflicting priorities.
• Optimization: Focus on the body. We provide strategies for physical health through nutrition, exercise, sleep and simple daily techniques that optimize your body.
• Inspiration: Focus on something larger than yourself, your soul. We encourage activities like arts, reading, and nature to recharge.
• Compassion: Focus on what it means to love yourself. We foster self-compassion through mindfulness and stress-reduction techniques.
• Empowerment: Here is where massive action takes place. We equip people with tools for setting boundaries, time management, and asserting themselves.

Policy Advocacy: Advocate for corporate policies supporting mental health days, flexible work hours, and wellness spaces.

Goals:

• Reduce global burnout rates.
• Increase productivity and job satisfaction.
• Enhance overall life satisfaction and happiness.
• Shift workplace culture to prioritize wellness.

The “Raise Your Voice” movement aims to create a scalable wellness model, benefiting individuals, organizations, and societies by promoting a healthier, sustainable approach to work and life.

What is the best way our readers can further follow your work online?

https://ariajohnson.com/

Insta: @ariajohnsonOfficial

FB: @ariajohnson

Linkedin: @ariajohnson

Podcast: Behind The Glitz

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About the Interviewer: Shawna Robins is an international best-selling author of two books — Powerful Sleep — Rest Deeply, Repair Your Brain and Restore Your Life, and Irresistibly Healthy — Simple Strategies to Feel Vibrant, Alive, Healthy and Full of Energy Again. Shawna is the founder and CEO of Third Spark, an online wellness hub for women over 40 who want to reignite their sleep, reset healthier habits and respark their lives. Shawna is a sleep expert, hormone health expert, and a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBHWC). She has been featured on many podcasts including Dr. Mindy Pelz’s “The Resetter Podcast” and in Authority Magazine, Thrive Global, and The Huffington Post. A free download of her latest book can be found at www.thirdsparkhealth.com/powerful-sleep/ You can follow her on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.