When I first heard Eve Ensler speak about being a walking head I knew exactly what she meant.

I too was a walking head for much of my life. I cared only about my brain, my intellectual achievements and what my mind thought.

I pushed my body to do what my ego said was important and I ignored the signs that I was exhausted or needed rest. Eventually my body collapsed. I contracted glandular fever and spent four years recovering from the chronic fatigue that followed.

In that time I learned to listen to another voice: the voice of my soul. I learned to be still enough to access it and I learned to respect and trust it.

The soul is a beautiful and quiet friend. It doesn’t yell for your attention like the mind does. It doesn’t bombard you constantly with fears and concerns for your safety.

It doesn’t always use your mind to communicate with you either. It will often use the world around you, synchronicities and methods unexpected. This is what I’ve learned about the soul’s means of communicating:

1. The soul speaks to you through synchronicity

Synchronicity looks like this; your friend mentions the benefits she’s seen from working with a life coach. You then receive an email which happens to include a link to that coach’s website. A few days later you read an article in the newspaper about the benefits of life coaching techniques.

This is how your soul speaks to you. It gently shows you what is happening at the level of your subconscious.

Without even being aware of it, we’re all putting out ideas and intentions about the things we’d like to experience in life. Options are then shown to us in a variety of forms until we either take them up or we start putting out different ideas and intentions.

I’m always looking for synchronicity in my life. It helps to cut through any confusion about whether to turn left or right when I encounter a fork in the road.

2. The soul is happy to dialogue with you

So often we look outside of ourselves for advice about our lives. We seek mentors and teachers to tell us what’s best for us. In truth, the best advice and guidance always lies within.

When you’re willing to engage with your soul, to honestly and humbly ask for help, it always responds.

I discovered this most starkly when I started my own business. In the early days I was really unsure about whether to keep going or whether to turn back to more traditional modes of employment.  Eventually in the midst of much confusion and uncertainty, I decided to simply ask for guidance.

Without knowing whether I would receive a response, I asked out loud; ‘Please show me whether this is a good idea…. and please show me in a really clear way that I’ll understand—make it written down on a piece of paper. I don’t want any metaphoric pictures or experiences which can be interpreted in multiple ways.’

That same day I was early for a meeting and so spent some time perusing the bookstores in Covent Garden, London.  In one such store I happened upon some angel cards. I picked up the pack and chose a card. It said this, ‘Keep going. You’re on the right path’.

‘Wow’, I thought, ‘that was clear’. My mind was in a pretty entrenched pattern of skepticism though and it was certainly not used to things being so easy, so I visited another bookstore.  I went to a different pack of cards and opened them in the middle somewhere. This time the card read, ‘This path will lead to happiness.’

‘Ok,’ I thought, ‘I get it! Thanks.’

A similar experience occurred when I was in India a number of years ago. I was faced with a wall of books, all of which I wanted to buy, but I was aware that I had a lot more travelling to do and weight was a consideration.

Faced with indecision, I again simply asked, ‘Which is the most important book for me to buy?’

Within 10 seconds a book fell out of the shelf and into my hands. Literally fell of the shelf. Nothing else in the bookshelf moved. No one had adjusted the furniture, no one even had their hands near these particular books at the time. I was simply standing there, asking for help and the book fell right into my hands. You don’t need someone else to decide what resources or tools will work best for you. Your heart and soul will always show you, if you are willing to ask.

3. The soul always has your highest and best interests at heart

Sometimes I’m asked how to determine the difference between what your mind thinks is right and what your soul would advise. Here’s where to start; your soul is always loving and kind. It always treats you with respect and sees you as the strong, capable human being that you are. Your mind is doubtful. It wants to protect you from being hurt. It speaks a lot and is often contradictory. It pushes you to keep going and to work against the instincts of your body.

The soul is never afraid of stopping or of letting go. The soul is complete and whole within itself and behaves accordingly.

Can you imagine if the whole world operated from this place? It’s absolutely possible. All that’s required is for each of us to start with ourselves.

Your soul is always communicating with you. All that’s needed is to take some time to understand its way of speaking.

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Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: Mike Shields / Pixoto