Changes are occurring to the VET FEE-HELP scheme that will affect current Sage students who are accessing VET FEE-HELP to fund their studies. If this is you, read on to find out what you need to do. What changes are occurring to VET FEE-HELP? From 1 January 2017 the VET FEE-HELP scheme will cease and a new VET Student Loans program will commence. If you are a current student financing your studies through a VET FEE-HELP loan you will not be transferred to the new VET Student Loans program. As a Sage student, you can continue accessing VET FEE-HELP to complete your studies prior to 31 December ..read more

As you probably know, Sage has recently commenced a partnership with the fabulous NBL team, Melbourne United (MU).  We are still bouncing around with excitement about this announcement…but we’ve got even better news! Some of our lucky Massage and Fitness students have been fortunate enough to be able to participate in an internship program with the MU guys.  Sage Institute of Massage graduate, Verina is one of them. To get to know Verina, we asked her some questions below. Stay tuned for more about her MU internship! 1.   What is it that motivated you undertake a training course ..read more

Remedial massage for disc issues Bulging discs, also known as slipped discs or protruding discs, are a relatively common injury. They may occur anywhere in the spinal column: in your lumbar spine, thoracic spine or cervical spine (neck). Herniated or prolapsed discs are slightly more serious and involve the outer part of the disc rupturing and the inner material (nucleus pulposis) seeping out. As you might expect, a herniated or bulging disc in the lumbar spine can put pressure on the spinal cord and cause muscle spasms, cramps, numbness and considerable pain in the neck, back or legs. The go ..read more

In this blog, we meet Sage graduate and now trainer at Sage Institute of Massage, Josh Wood. Josh has a strong sporting background and has managed to combine his passion for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) with his work. Let’s see how Josh has managed to do what many of us only dream of doing! I came to massage in a round-about way. I moved to Australia in 2008 from the U.S. I have had a long history with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and have been training in MMA and various combat sports for nearly a decade. At the same time as moving to Australia, I was searching for a way to turn my passion for the bo ..read more

For those of you that have just started reading, this is Part II of our two part series on massage music. In Massage Music Part I , we talked about the most relaxing tune ever and why music and massage are such great complements. When it comes to playing your selected music for massage, you can always play CDs, but in addition, you may find it much easier to stream music from your desktop, laptop or MP3 player. Music for massage and licensing If you are playing recorded music while working professionally as a massage therapist, you will need the appropriate licenses. In essence, the owner ..read more

In this two part series on massage music we look at what makes music relaxing and why good music choice is essential for your massage therapy business. In Massage Music Part II we provide a guide on how to access great tunes for your massage clients. Weightless: the most relaxing tune ever In an interesting experiment conducted in 2011 in the UK, a group of scientists, sound therapists and Manchester band, Marconi Union, came together to make the most relaxing tune in history. Funded by the well-known bath product company Radox Spa, they compiled a song that was played to a control g ..read more

It’s official. And it’s exciting! Sage Institute of Education has signed as a major sponsor for National Basketball League team, Melbourne United for the 2016 – 17 season. This partnership is also great news for Sage students – especially as it involves appointing Melbourne United and Boomers player, Chris Goulding, as Sage Ambassador! All the team at Sage look forward to seeing Chris make his guest appearances on campus, and providing motivational talks to students. Melbourne United CEO, Vince Crivelli, was excited to have Sage on board: “Sage is a great fit for the club given its focus on ..read more

Our muscle tissue is quite a lot more interesting than you may think. It behaves in different ways, depending on its treatment and circumstances. Muscle tissue also changes as it ages, becoming more susceptible to dysfunction. But the changes aren’t always irreparable – with a little bit of knowledge, and some great massage technique, we can stay on top of them. If you’re into muscles, or in to massage and feeling better (and who isn’t?) trigger points, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and muscle guarding are well worth knowing about. Trigger points A familiar term amongst many, technicall ..read more

If you’ve started a new massage business, chances are you’ve organised a website for yourself. A good website is a pre-requisite for small business marketing. Everyone has one, but how do you make your website and brand stand out from the pack? Firstly, you’re going to need great website design (harder to come by than you’d think) and secondly, you’re going to need SEO to be found at the top of the first page of Google, but that’s a whole other blog post. There is one thing you can do, however, that will help Google look at your website favourably and make your clients want to keep coming back ..read more

When we are at our most vulnerable, the benefits of soothing, calming human touch brings relief like no other. It makes sense therefore, that for cancer patients undergoing treatment, therapies such as massage are warmly welcomed. Massage is a complimentary therapy. It treats the whole person; it does not treat, nor cure the disease. However, when used in conjunction with mainstream medicine and conventional treatments, it is a wonderful adjunct. Massage for cancer patients can also help reduce the side effects caused by cancer treatments and greatly increases the patient’s level of comfort an ..read more