Soul is our eternal essence. It is the undying spirit within that unites us with the energy fields of the Universe. It is always peaceful when we are at rest at the Soul level of awareness. Some of us are conscious of it, while others are not. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Consciousness is another name for awareness. Some of us cloud our awareness with our constant mind-stream of fearful thoughts. When this happens, it is difficult to live from our Soul.
Animals have more awareness of the universal ground of their being than humans because they do not cycle through worrisome thoughts about the past and the future. But, because they cannot communicate this verbally to us, it might be lost on us.
Humans are the only beings on this planet who can verbally communicate the qualities of the Soul. Yet in doing so, they try to define this amazing state of being with narrow definitions. Consciousness, too, has different levels to it, when we are talking strictly about awareness.
Does a person in a coma not have a Soul, simply because they are not aware of their surroundings? No. The Soul precedes awareness and can never be destroyed. We may lose our physical senses but our Souls are forever.