August 3, 2006 Issue                                       

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

New Sanctuary on Hill lives up to its name
by MARY PRICE LEE
and RICHARD S. LEE

The new Sanctuary at 8611 Germantown Avenue is painted maroon because it is the color of Buddhist monks’ robes, and the green of the front door is the traditional Tibetan color representing life.

It was a steamy Mad Dogs and Englishmen day when we visited Sanctuary, the Hill’s newest store, at 8611 Germantown Ave. Chris Aibel, the shop’s charming and energetic owner, gave us real sanctuary, and not simply from the ghastly weather. Her spirit was pleasantly infectious; she radiates the inner joy that comes from following your heart’s desire.

Chris, who looks a good decade younger than 53, opened Sanctuary in the former Rug Maven location on July 11, after a year of planning. The plan was to create a shop that is also a personal oasis, a place where a customer can receive replenishment and rejuvenation as well as jewelry, music, books and clothing — all with a spiritual connection.

Chris has no problem defining what she wants her store to offer. Yes, it is a retail and gift shop, but “I want my store to offer a feel-good atmosphere (in the best sense), a place to de-stress. I want this to be a sanctuary where you can find wisdom, self-realization, a sense of peace.”

Part of that goal is met just inside the front door, where a handy shelf holds brochures from nearby spas, yoga classes and related activities. And Chris is planning her own courses in basic wellness, yoga and meditation starting in the fall, in collaboration with staff members at The Village Earth Bead Market, 8442 Germantown Ave., next to Kilian’s Hardware. Also, Chris welcomes customers’ suggestions about things to do or items to stock; even a sanctuary should be a work in progress.

Chris Aibel, owner of Sanctuary, is delighted to have a shop of her own on the Avenue.

From color scheme to clothing, virtually everything in Sanctuary is connected to inner reflection, or to so-called New Age philosophy (more about that later). The striking green of the entrance door and of the shop’s lettering represent the color of life. “Green is ever-blooming,” says Chris. The warm russet earth tone accenting the store’s windows and used as the background for Chris’ business card is a Buddhist symbol of spirituality, frequently the color woven into monks’ robes. And both colors appear in the ancient Chinese circular symbol on Chris’ business card, the Universal Spirit of Life.

Chris has merchandise that reflects her store’s message, which is her Internet message too (www.sanctuaryyogashop.com): “everything you need to create your own sanctuary.” This is particularly true of her yoga-inspired clothing and accessories. (Ask her about the yoga shirt she designed, and the meaning of its Sanskrit lettering.) Chris carries the city’s most complete and beautiful lines of clothing for yoga and after-yoga, plus yoga mats, towels, pillows and bags. Beside yoga items, she carries Buddha statuary and Buddha-decorated bags, blouses and wall hangings.

For those yearning for Webster’s New Collegiate at this point, it defines yoga as “A system of exercises for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being.” The same source identifies Buddhism as “A religion of Eastern and Central Asia growing out of the teachings of Guatama Buddha that suffering is inherent in life and that one can be liberated from it by mental and moral self-purification.”

Chris’ inventory also includes New Age books, organic flowering trees and candles, incense, music CDs for meditation — everything to tempt the inquiring mind. (Someone might be lucky enough to buy the beautifully crafted alarm clock we saw. It is so gentle it could be said to lull one awake — if it disturbs slumber at all.)

To appreciate the “why” of Sanctuary, it helps to know something of Chris Aibel’s life journey so far. Chris is a Philadelphian, and proud of it. She earned a B.A. in Psychology at Temple University, and was planning on a career as a clinical psychologist. Her major interest was the Holocaust, and she was accepted as a Masters’ candidate at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey, the only college in the United States offering a Master’s Degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. “This gripped me,” Chris says, “I wanted to explore what happens to people living under such trauma. My Master’s project involved psychological and biographical work with Holocaust survivors. [In the course of this] I traveled to Eastern Europe, and to death camps, including Auschwitz. There is such unbearable sadness there: it was and is overwhelming.”

Chris has not practiced clinical psychology, but her studies and experiences led directly into understanding the elements of spirituality now found at Sanctuary. “The need for the world to be uplifted is so great,” she says.

When the shop was almost ready to open — with its “Opening July 11 or as close as we can” sign in the window — a Zen-like event took place. A friend told Angie Rapalyea about the future store. Angie, a life-long Hill resident, was thrilled. After five years of sales experience at El Quetzal, she wasn’t actively looking for another post — but Sanctuary sounded perfect — and so it has proved to be. Chris says theirs is the ideal pairing.

Like most peoples’ lives., Chris’ existence runs on parallel tracks. Although spiritual, she is well aware of the practical trials of retailing since her husband, Bob, owns the Moderne Gallery at 111 North 3rd St. in Old City. The Gallery specializes in furniture by the famed New Hope craftsman, the late George Nakashima. It also has a working arrangement with Nakashima’s daughter, Mira. (At Sanctuary, sitting on a genuine Nakashima stool is something of a spiritual experience in itself. So is looking at or running your fingers over the store’s exquisite custom display cabinets.)

In earlier days,, the Aibels lived on Boyer Street in Mt. Airy with their children, now 20 and 24. Today, they live in Fort Washington, in a house that — to Chris’ delight — backs up on woods. And there is something inherently likeable about someone who’s a happy captive of two Pomeranian dogs named Curly Girlie and Harvest Moon!

One of Chris Aibel’s heroes (heroines?) is a multi-talented transplanted Texan now living in New York, Lorene McClintock, who has become Chris’ good friend and spiritual advisor. McClintock rebelled from a “you-can’t-do-that” adolescence to become a fashion designer, artist, concert-caliber pianist, inventor (of a wildly successful self-teaching piano method) and an icon of spiritual instruction. McClintock’s 2004 book, Love and Forgiveness — A New Way to Live ($38), is a surprisingly practical interpretation and application of Biblical and other spiritual principles. It is among the New Age books and music CDs for sale at Sanctuary.

Which brings us to the subject of what New Age is. Chris’ helpmate at Sanctuary, Angie Rapalyea says, “New Age is really Old Age. It’s the distillation of ancient wisdom.” So, unlike what one might think, it’s not way-out or something left over from the 1960s’ hippie scene. Instead, it’s way in — an individual search for peace and fulfillment as old as mankind, as modern as tomorrow.

Its ideas can be simple but profound, like the bumper sticker we bought from Sanctuary. It reads: “BEGIN WITHIN.”

Sanctuary is open Tuesdays – Saturdays, 10:30 – 5:30. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Information: 215-242-3150.