Two Maidservants Brought Across
Rebbe Elimelech reads Yaakov's two maidservants as the animal soul and the yetzer hara, which a person can also bring into holiness.
When Yaakov crossed the Yabbok, the Torah says he took his two wives and his two maidservants. Rebbe Elimelech does not speak of Zilpah by name here; he reads the words his two maidservants, the verse in which she and Bilhah cross the river, as the inner life of every Jew. A person has two wives: the wife Hashem commanded him to marry, and his holy neshamah, which longs only to rise to its root. He also has two maidservants, the animal soul and the yetzer hara, which hold him back from serving Hashem. But when a person purifies himself and breaks his physical desires, even these help him. The yetzer hara becomes good, and he serves Hashem with both inclinations. The animal soul helps too, for he sanctifies himself in what is permitted, in his eating, drinking and every movement. So Yaakov took across not only his wives but his maidservants as well, and raised everything up.
Source: Noam Elimelech, Bereishis, Vayishlach (on Bereishis 32:23)
Yaakov did not leave the maidservants behind on the far side of the river. Choose one physical need this week that usually feels like a distraction from serving Hashem: your morning coffee, a walk, a rest after work. Before you begin, say quietly that you are doing it to have strength and a clear head for your tefillah, your family or your learning. Say the brachah slowly. The same act, taken across with you, becomes part of your avodah.