Commitment to Rest

Working two jobs and going to school has my sleep schedule down to about 5 hours per day. I wake up at 230 am daily for work and go to sleep around 9pm. I don't have trouble falling asleep at all, it's just trying to do too much during the day to accommodate my busy schedule. 

I use medication at night to improve my sleep

Well hello there nursegreen11.   I am a certified Fitness Trainer and Nutrition Specialist with the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), and a new member of HNHN,affiliated with the largest hospital system in SE Texas, Memorial Hermann.  I can totally relate to you when it comes to the 6 hour sleep night.  I meditate quite a bit to quiet my mind, and I also do restorative yoga which is more of a relaxation yoga practice.  While no meditation can replace sleep completely, it all comes down to the melatonin in your brain and stress is one of the big things inhibiting the production of that chemical.  If you're anything like me, then I am guessing that melatonin is an herbal supplement you have taken to help.  However, in a highly cited Rutguers University study, meditation was effectively proven to boost melatonin levels by an average of 98%, with many participants showing increases of more than 300%!  Meditation's biological re-balancing enables the perfect amount of melatonin to flow throughout your body, helping you reach a far deeper, more efficient level of sleep.    If you have not tried meditation in the past, then I would definitely recommend finding a way to incorporate it into your weekly/daily routine.  At the end of the day another way to relieve stress is exercising.   I get in the gym to exercise twice during the week at various intensity levels then do restorative yoga to relax, recover, and relieve stress on Sundays.  I hope you find some ways to reach your goal to stretch those peaceful sleeping hours aka deep REM sleep !