The England international scored four goals in 17 appearances for Unai Emery’s team after joining from Manchester United during the winter transfer window.
It came after Rashford had been frozen out at Old Trafford by new United boss, Ruben Amorim.
Villa, who had a £40million option to buy, saw their chances of making the deal permanent were scuppered by missing out on Champions League football.
Rashford has since joined Barcelona on loan for the coming season but still looks back on his time at Villa fondly.
The United academy product told the Rest is Football podcast: “No matter where you go from being in a certain place for so long, it is a change.
“But I feel like the timing of me going to Villa, looking back now, it was the exact time for me to do something like that.
“I feel the response and reaction I got from people at the club and the fans, it was probably what I needed on a personal level in that moment.
“It is crazy because six months on, I feel everything is completely different. Without having that right period in the middle, maybe I would not be feeling how I am now.
“I feel like everything which happened at Villa, bar the injury at the end, was exactly how it was supposed to be.”
Villa missed out on qualifying for the Champions League for a second straight year when they were beaten 2-0 by United in controversial circumstances on the final day of the season.
Rashford, who would have been unavailable for the match against his parent club in any case, missed the final five games of the season with a hamstring injury.
He continued: “I remember when Villa got relegated and since then the club has been on the up.
“When I first went there, the atmosphere at the club was all positive. It was exactly what I needed in that period.”