Just as it takes time and commitment to develop an excellent tennis serve or ability to paint, it takes commitment over time to finely tune our spiritual ear to consistently hear our soul speaking. There are no magical skills or strategies that guarantee instant success.

But here are a few suggestions that often work:

1. The single most effective way to nurture the Soul is time in quiet reflection, meditation and self-inquiry. The noisy world in which we live drowns out the voice of the Soul if we do not quiet ourselves and take time out. If we don’t have the intention to listen, we will not hear. This does not have to be hours spent in formal meditation but includes commitment to regular times away from outward stimulation.

2. Following passion is a vital part accessing the Soul. Freud said that the “royal road to the unconscious” was through dreams. Deep Throat told Woodward and Bernstein, during Watergate, to “Follow the money.” In seeking the Soul the royal path to be followed involves personal, individual passions. For each person activities that resonate with the Soul can be very different but include such things as art, music, poetry, cooking, being in nature, rock climbing, car repair and fly fishing. The potential list is endless. The specific activity is not as important as finding something / anything that the heart loves to do.

3. Encountering the great moments and people of our time. Never in history has there been so much Soulful wisdom so easily available to us. The internet makes access to all of this easy. The speeches of Martin Luther King, or the Dali Lama or Gandhi or Nelson Mandela are readily available. And there are superb movies like Lincoln or The Butler. I’ve just run into a wonderfully inspiring web site at www.dailygood.org that is excellent for this. And, “TED Talks,” available on YouTube or at ted.com are a literal treasure trove of resources.

4. The Soul also speaks when the personal world collapses and we move into the unknown. When our usual, normal life falls apart and our customary structures cave in around us we can embrace the chaos and listen within. Rather than fight the process, which is what we are usually advised to do, we can put our arms around the unknown and flow. Soul speaks in these times of the deeper meaning and purpose to our Being. New meanings can emerge as we listen within.

The Soul is always present. Feelings of disconnection are an illusion. The Soul speaks and is accessible in every aspect of life when we teach ourselves to pay attention.